#like the whole universe is out to keep them separated but they have no idea who they are actually dealing with

[xtinyslip]

"PARTLY, YES. IT HAD TO BE. DO YOU REALLY BLAME ME FOR THAT? I WANTED YOU AND QUITE FRANKLY, NEEDED YOU WITH ME. YOU KNEW MORE ABOUT ME THEN, MORE THAN ANYONE KNEW… NO ONE IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD HAVE STAYED… I LOVED YOU, I WAS JUST SO FUCKED UP I DIDN'T KNOW HOW TOO. I WANTED YOU TO WANT TO STAY." the parts that he saw that were a lie, they were incentive for him to stay and it probably did make her everything he was saying but she couldn't even bring herself to regret it. "of course, i walked out of their alive. were you really expecting anything else? my father --" and she hated, HATED speaking about him in the past tense because she was trying to take steps forward and not back. cecilia would have done anything not to fail him and she had… by letting kramer in, she had but at least being alive she'd been able to make that up to him. well… at first, she'd tried as she always used too. "i knew of him first. i think? i'm not sure we ever got into those details, they never seemed to matter. he's…" it was painfully clear he didn't trust her and he was probably right not to, with what clearly he remembered till. she knew the truth was going to sound crazy to him, was it going to push him further away? "he means a great deal to me. it's a long story that perhaps would be best saved for another time? yes?" considering if she started with 'he's my dad,' she had no idea how parker would react to it. she didn't like the accusation behind his tone but it was good that he was still protective of will. even if she was doing everything she could to force her tears back. "i'm not sure best friends practically does it justice. if we are being honest here? we're more like… family. we are on good terms. i have his number, i'm certain he wouldn't mind me sharing it with you?" carlos was a little brother to her which was extremely strange, and of course, never something she'd expected but… a lot had happened. a lot he didn't remember. "you know exactly what he was capable of, what his reaction would have been in the past. i imagine quite similar to what it was here. he recreated the room here, almost got away with starving me to death… i almost died, twice because i refused to return to him. not my proudest moments as i'm sure you can imagine?" it wasn't a lie, and she didn't know how else to convince him other than to tell him the truth. to actually talk... about the missing pieces that she could. he could always read through her bullshit and she hoped that wasn't masked by what he was feeling now. "does this look like a game to you? are you for fucking real? look at me, parker. these last few months have been hell for me, this is not some silly game." leave will alone. leave me alone. she sucked in a breath, not known for taking no for an answer but… her head was swimming with unwanted thoughts. "you, you don't know what your saying. you don't have all the pieces to put this together and i'm trying --" trying to what? did he really want this? for her to leave him alone for good? she wanted to say she was bravely searching his expression for the real answer but… it was out of desperation, there wasn't particularly anything brave about how she was feeling. she was just good at hiding it. "i love you. i. love. you. it is not past tense and that's a scam of your own doing by acting like it ever could be." fuck, she hoped she was right ; and that he was going to believe that. that he already did believe that deep inside him somewhere. "abandon was your word, and quite dramatic. i was going to suggest taking a small break because since when has denying us ever worked? when has it ever made anything better for us?" she reached out, letting her fingers brush over his arm, her hand hovering over his arm. "i will sit. i will order the whole fucking menu if it pleases you but i will sit here till you hear me." and it was too late for him to tell her no, she'd already sat. not really caring whether the table was reserved or not. @fcdcdmcmories

"WHAT YOU LET ME SEE IS A LIE. IT'S ALWAYS BEEN A LIE. BUT YOU'RE RIGHT. I'M NOT THAT MAN ANYMORE. I HAVE A LIFE HERE. A GOOD ONE. A DECENT ONE. AND YOU? YOU'RE NOT A PART OF IT." she couldn't be - not after everything that had happened and after everything that he had seen and.. how could he forget that night? what he had seen? and why was it that he regretted those words as soon as he said them there and then? "fine. is that what you want me to say? i went for the damned knife too but which one of us walked out alive? you. not me. and it's-" he stumbled backwards, at the shock of what she had said. without thinking, he found himself glancing towards the wall of the restaurant behind him. he had pictures there - of evie, of gabi, of elaine, of his life here and of everything important and yes, even one of him and will. HOW THE FUCK-- "what the fuck do you mean? how do you know will? he's my friend. that i met, when i got here. how do you know of him? and why the hell are using his last name? what are you up to?" he didn't trust her and it showed but right now, his guard was up. what the fuck was happening here? she had just gotten to town.. right? so how did she know will? "right. and you two are best friends and you take the kid out for ice cream every now and then and he forgot all you did that night. how much of a fool do you think i am?" not something that he wanted answered right now, seeing as he did believe that she thought he was a fool. why else would she have done HALF of what she had? "right. just us. you defied him, when that was never a possibility in the past. not something you would have ever DONE. with no one to confirm your story. honestly, cecilia - do you think i'm an idiot? don't answer that - of course you do. the fact you'd lie about that, when for years, all i wanted to was-" shutting himself off. for years, all that he had wanted was to marry her and to get away from all that mess, so the fact that she'd lie about that? that was a joke. it had to be. RIGHT? "no. i don't owe you anything anymore. my life's here. i'm not being pulled into your games again. whatever this is? leave my friend will alone. leave me alone. go back to.. WHEREVER it is you came from now." holding his hands up, as he shook his head. he regretted it immediately, but.. goddamn it, she got under his skin in ways that no one had ever done. even now. even after it all? "wasn't that what it was all about in the past? every single time, we made the same mistakes all over again. all because.. you didn't want to be alone and i.. i loved you." something told him that wasn't past tense. that it would never be. not that he wanted to say that. ever. "really? and what is that option c? go with you wherever the hell you want and abandon my life here? no, thanks. you-" shaking his head in frustration, but.. he hadn't told her to leave again, had he? if anything, he had told her to sit down and.. damn it. why couldn't he just let her go? / @xtinyslip

[phoenixkaptain]

Everytime I think about Obi-Wan and Anakin it’s like- I don’t ship them so much as I think they should be together at all times. I think tcw had a point, actually, and the two of them should just. Always be together. I think Anakin is Obi-Wan’s hope in an increasingly difficult life and I think Obi-Wan is Anakin’s tie to humanity when he most feels like a monster. They are intrinsically combined, from the very first movie where Obi-Wan dies at Vader’s hands with a peaceful expression.

It’s Obi-Wan begging Luke not to see Anakin in Vader while Vader searches Luke to see some sign of Obi-Wan. It’s Obi-Wan calling Anakin another pathetic lifeform to Obi-Wan being unable to process the idea of Anakin being anything but good. It’s Anakin awkwardly (adorably) shaking Obi-Wan’s hand to Anakin awkwardly (adorably) bringing up Obi-Wan during conversations with the woman he wants to seduce.

It’s Obi-Wan knowing how to fix Artoo and Obi-Wan teasing Anakin about Artoo. It’s Anakin’s first thought on losing his lightsaber being “Obi-Wan’s going to be mad at me again” and Anakin laughing when Obi-Wan tells him to drive better.

The prequel trilogy is so fascinating because my favourite parts are always Anakin and Obi-Wan. The parts I think about the most often are those parts with Anakin and Obi-Wan. The relationship between these two drives the entirety of the plot of the prequels, to the point that the literal birth mother of the main characters of the original trilogy is all but forgotten in the third movie.

It’s. Obi-Wan spending years watching over Luke because Luke reminds him of Anakin, never approaching because what if Luke really does turn out to be like Anakin…?

It’s Vader assuming that Obi-Wan taught Luke to fight, because who else could teach a Skywalker?

It’s Obi-Wan accepting all the blame for the people he knew best, the people who were basically his family, all dying.

It’s Vader keeping Obi-Wan’s lightsaber in a parallel to Obi-Wan keeping Anakin’s.

They are just. Mutually Obsessed. Obi-Wan held up Anakin and said “this is my whole personality now” and Anakin responded with “neato, same.” They bicker like an old married couple. Anakin can’t imagine even thinking about leaving Obi-Wan behind. Obi-Wan tells Anakin point-blank that he’s a good Jedi who deserves to be a Master.

I ship them because like. The universe? Does?? They are destined to be by each other, in life and in death. They support and sustain each other. There was probably eepy Force magic stuff that made Anakin into a Force ghost because Obi-Wan wanted him to be one.

How else can I explain it? They were made for each other. Like. Literally. They should never be separated. Look what happened when they did separate in universe. They are a nuclear bomb. They have to stay together or the galaxy gets the worst of it, and that’s just canon, somehow.

[artbyblastweave]

There are pieces of science-fiction/fantasy media where you can basically project what the cast dynamic would look like in an AU that strips out the explicitly supernatural stuff, because the underlying emotional beats in canon were either disconnected from the supernatural stuff, or fancified versions of a comparatively mundane dynamic. For example, Steven Universe has an enormous number of AU fanworks predicated on the fact that the core cast consists of a queer friend group trying, with mixed success, to take care of the son of one of their deceased members while wrestling with the shape of the group dynamic in her absence, and dealing with the fallout of said deceased Friend’s dirty laundry. This is true well before you get into the fact they’re also aliens and the kid is space Jesus, and I think you could get a fair distance into rewriting the whole show into a mundane slice of life thing like Clarence without hitting serious problems.

On the other hand, you have a lot of science-fiction/fantasy media where the cast dynamic in a No-powers AU is extremely difficult to extrapolate because the fantastic elements of the setting are baked into their characterization at a deep enough level that trying to extricate it is like trying to get the chocolate chips out  of a cookie. Anakin Skywalker comes to mind. Child-Slave-turned-space-jesus-slash-military-commander while being groomed by Space-Hitler-Satan. An extremely specific, non-fungible, totally-over-the-top set of life-circumstances, consequentially somewhat difficult to transpose into a more mundane context. You can model facets of it, sure. But the whole of his situation is so suffused with 20s-radio-play melodrama that it’s harder to capture the arc with stakes lower than those in canon. Canon Anakin is the most distilled possible version of Anakin.

Worm falls in the middle. On the one hand, it’s very, very easy to extrapolate what the main cast’s lives would have looked like if they’d never gotten powers, if they’d just stayed mundane teenagers- you just have the exact same horrible shit happen to them but they don’t get powers from it. Taylor keeps muddling on through the bullying but without the escape valve of costumed heroism, Brian tries to maintain custody of his sister, Lisa, Alec and Rachel as runaways under pretty similar circumstances to canon. These are setting-agnostic and fairly easy to transpose.

On the other hand, the thing about the Undersiders’ canon dynamic is that they only exist as a group because they were each abruptly made non-fungible- thrust from the no-powers-AU of their own lives into the genre fiction version, where they’re individually powerful and useful enough to be worth bankrolling or taking hostage or whatever else. The book is in large part about how the superpowered runaround monopolizes your “mundane” life and eats you alive from the inside out; it’s a refutation of the once-common superhero trope of being able to keep the two tracks of your life separate for any serious length of time, which in turn becomes an unintentional implicit refutation of the similar logic undergirding mundane AUs, the idea that there’s a recognizable version of a superhero that can be meaningfully separated from all the insane stuff that happens to them. Worm, accordingly, ends with the protag getting actually literally shunted into a No-Powers AU and being somewhat at a loss as to how to rebuild her identity in the absence of the genre elements that swallowed the last two years of her life. Who are you, outside of being a superhero? Well, for starters, you’re the woman who used to be a superhero. Good luck at the coffee shop!

[ekingston]

Hi; I don't know if you're still following the word-stream stuff, but the app is back online on the app store as "booktok - books and podcasts". The reviews marking it as having AI scraped data are still on the page itself, even though the name has changed, and duckduckgo still directs to their page if you look up "word-stream audiobooks"-- although if I don't know how long that will last. The website is seemingly gone, but the app still presumably has access to all the stolen works in the database.

Best regards, -someone else whose fics were stolen

yup

word-stream is back

it just calls itself—in an obvious attempt to profit from the TikTok upheaval—BookTok, now. and it’s not just the app, either: the whole website is back online, same as it was just before Cliff Weitzman took it down.

(in case you missed it, here are the original story & the update.)

fortunately (so far) the fanfiction category hasn't been re-added, but if you go to the store page for the app you can see that it’s still using 'fan-created universes' as advertising.

Weitzman didn't register the app under his own name this time, but through something called 'Oak Prime Inc'. hilariously, however, the email address listed in BookTok's privacy policy still refers to word-stream.com, so if Cliff was trying to scrub the connection between Speechify and his BookTok app, he didn't do a very thorough job.

here's the thing (and i'm about to put this up in a separate, more easily digestible post): if you take a look at the terms & conditions of Cliff's other platform, Speechify, it claims a truly comprehensive license to use the works uploaded to that platform in any way Cliff sees fit, including publishing and monetizing it elsewhere. and i keep seeing posts on Reddit and Bluesky from both readers and writers, happily using the Speechify app to read fanfic, advanced reader copies and their own yet-to-be-published work to them.

this is a BAD IDEA. Cliff has already proven that he will take work authored by others without their permission and redistribute it wholesale if he thinks it might make him money.

Cliff is the financial beneficiary of both Speechify and word-stream/booktokapp. it seems pretty obvious to me that he's trying to claim, via Speechify's terms & conditions, that every work uploaded to Speechify is his to do with whatever he pleases, which naturally includes moving them to this other platform so he can charge people for two subscriptions instead of just the one.

thank you so much for keeping an eye on this, anon, and for reaching out!! like i said, another post will go up today about the above, but i'm going to ask you all to help ensure that my posts & my name aren't the only ones giving voice to this message. when i tried to approach people about this issue on social media, often the—completely justified!—response was 'why should I take your word for it?' and Wikipedia only allowed the mention of Weitzman's copyright infringement to remain on his page when 'The Endless Appetite for Fanfiction' was listed as a source.

it can't just be me. DON’T take my word for it. do your own research (i would love to be proven wrong about this!), talk to your friends, engage with posts on social media similar to the ones i mentioned above (those are just some examples, don’t pile on to the OPs!) and make sure people know what they're jeopardizing. help me protect authors from money-grubbing shitheads like this one.

[sugudoe]

❛ 𝐎𝐍 𝐌𝐘 𝐖𝐀𝐘 ❜ ﾉ⠀ 𝙜𝙤𝙟𝙤 𝙨𝙖𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙪

✶ 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: It had been a decade since the jujutsu world last heard your voice or seen your face. 𝐆𝐨𝐣𝐨 𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐮 had to deal with his emotions and conflicts by himself, and when he was nearly accepting that maybe you were dead, the unthinkable happens ── 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩.

✶ 𝐚. 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞: this is the same universe as ‘𝖺𝗇𝖼𝗂𝖾𝗇𝗍 𝗅𝗈𝗏𝖾’ 𝗆𝗒 𝗀𝖾𝗍𝗈 𝗌𝗎𝗀𝗎𝗋𝗎 one shot, but obviously can be read separated (but don’t, read all of them <3), because i thought it would be cool. this one actually made me cry a lot, but as always, good ending. totally based on this song. also, i noticed i like to make the reader strong and whatever, expect more badass readers from me. mwah.

✶ 𝐬𝐲𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐮𝐬: angst with good ending, mature content, blood, death, kidnapping, foul language, anxiety attack, self harm (picking skin), malnourishment, afab!reader (their uterus is actually important to the plot), happy ending.

✶ 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 3.8k

Gojo Satoru has had bruises and scars surrounding all of his fingers for almost a decade now. It’s a habit he picked to externalize his anxiety, much like Shoko with her cigarettes — ever since they met each-other, the girl would inhale one after the other.

When Ieiri became a doctor, her mission was to help healing the physical scars cause by either Gojo’s own hands or mouth, plucking the skin and tasting his blood, as if that could calm him. Maybe it could, he did felt relief through the pain. Shoko knew it was unhealthy and just the first steps before it all escalated to something more dangerous and difficult, so she tried to help.

“Let’s change this…” The brunette grabbed Satoru’s hands from his mouth, when he started to complain, she exchange it for a strawberry covered in chocolate. “For this.”

Soon, Shoko is reminded that Satoru can multitask. Blood and sweets merge in his mouth, the taste is addictive to him, much like something he unknowingly misses.

They both try cigarettes.

“Isn’t cigarettes as bad as this self-harm, you think I do?!” Gojo asks after burning his lungs and coughing the smoke all the way up his throat. There is a bitter taste that impregnates in his tongue, he can help but stick one of his fingers into his mouth and scratch the pink muscle. While he is at it, Gojo bites, tempted, his skin.

Shoko thinks that if Satoru is allowing all of this, that means he cares as much as she does, and he wants to be unhooked of this habit he has. One day, she suggests maybe he should focus on something else, like keeping his bed warm with a new person everyday. You’re never picking up your skin when you’re focused on somebody’s else, Shoko tells him.

Gojo turns it down the second she finishes her reasoning.

“Your pretty head is going to work harder for a new idea, Sho. Not in the mood for anyone else.” Shoko doesn’t bother slapping Satoru’s hands away from his mouth, the woman is to busy being stunned by his words.

“I thought you had move on, Gojo.” She didn’t meant to say it out loud, hence why it’s barely a whisper, but the contents of it could never scape Gojo. If the topic was you, he was always hearing, trained his ears in the hope to catch news a long time ago. “It’s been what? four years?”

“No, it’s been six, actually.” Gojo is not looking at Shoko, not at anywhere in the room but his hands, bruised and bloodied by himself. Shoko wonders if he is going to bite the whole thing off. “Six years since she has gone missing. Not a single news, she had no family, besides us, so no one has know shit.” He closed his hands in fists.

“Don’t you think she could have just gone away, Satoru?” Ieiri fidgets with her wedding ring unconsciously, the piercing blue eyes snap to the silver metal for a moment before returning to his lap, his long hand touching his necklace under the shirt. Shoko knew of your hate towards the jujutsu world and the men in power, but she was also your friend, you wouldn’t have left anyone behind, especially Gojo. “No, she didn’t.”

“Yeah, she didn’t.” Satoru grabs his glasses on the coffee table and adjust them over his eyes. To ease the pain of the six-eyes or to hide his tears, the woman wonders. “But I wish that’s what happened, y’know?” Gojo presses his thumb against the bottom of his teeth, tempted. “I would love her more if I knew she was far away, somewhere in the mountains, sleeping with dozens of blankets and a cat named Amour.”

Shoko doesn’t find her voice in that moment, is stuck besides her breaking heart and burned lungs. Gojo doesn’t seem to mind, he is lost in this calm and happier version of you he creates to ease his mind.

“If she isn’t, can you imagine? Can you imagine her dead?” Satoru slaps his hand over his mouth, and Shoko fears that’s the moment he will bite so hard the blood he is addicted to will paint himself, paint her, become physical enough to never be ignored like this situation they are right know. But none of that happens, Satoru simply try to hide his hiccups and cries.

It takes Ieiri a second to register what is happening, and when she does she jumps over the coffee table and hugs Gojo’s shaking form. In the six years since your disappearance, Satoru has never said out loud that you could be dead. The man thought such a thing was impossible, said that your curse energy was so strong anyone would feel it, Japan would lose its balance. He wondered if he had been wrong, had never noticed, because even if Satoru had spend all the time searching for you, he could have missed this. Could have missed you, and your last breath.

“Oh, please, my God.” Gojo begged the usual prayer: trade him for you, let him see you just one more time — he only needed a goodbye, a hug, a kiss. To look in your eyes and repent, to touch your skin and evaporate. Gojo Satoru would avoid death until the moment he sees you again, dead or alive.

“Gojo.” Shoko grabbed his face, removing his glasses and making him stare at her through his white eyelashes. He looked so young, the perfect mirage of how he was when Satoru learned of your missing. “She is not gone.” Ieiri hated herself for this, for trying to give him hope, something desperate to dig his claws in, unknown to the fact it was hope digging him, and when the truth would come out it could remove chunks of Satoru.

“Then where is Y/n?” Gojo whispered. “Where is she that I can’t find? Where is my love?”

Gojo Satoru became a shell of a man after that day. For the next four years he devoted his attention to anything related to you.

Becoming a good and happy teacher because he knew how much you wanted to be one, for the young sorceress who were obliged to give their lives for old men who couldn’t even thank them. Gojo’s spare time used to be for you, as well, searching Tokyo and hiring detectives all over the world, but now he promised Shoko to take some time at his penthouse. It sucks.

He holds himself against the large windows and knows you would love to see the city lights, when they would shine through your eyes and light half of your face, he would kiss you desperately. For a decade away from your lips, he still could remember how good it felt to be complete with you. The clouds reached the building some times, and he wondered if you were dead, this was your way of reaching. But whenever Gojo refused to believe in this, he would let the curtains take him away from the clouds.

Today is one of those days. And the sky is angry at him, demanding his attention with lightning and thunder — unfortunately, same as your cursed technique. Anytime a lightning falls at the city bellow him, Gojo hugs himself a bit tighter, to avoid himself from jumping to the windows, shamelessly looking for you.

His cell phone rings two times before he picks it up.

“Hey, are you alright? It’s a pretty heavy storm tonight.” Suguru asks right away, in the background there is two teen girls screaming with terror and then laughing like maniacs afterwards. “One lightning fell at the garden, the girls are going crazy. If you want to come, please do.” There is despair in his voice, and Gojo laughs at that.

“Sure, nothing better to do. Should I teleport in the middle of your living room to scare them?”

“Yes! That would be very much appreciated… Oh.” There is mumbling for a long time before Suguru returns. “Nanako is asking for you to bring her some of your snacks, the sour one, Mimiko says she want nothing but she likes the peanut butter M&M’s.” More talking in the background. “You are no bother, love, he is filthy rich.”

“Your daughters are lucky I love them.” Gojo mumbles getting up, before he moves there is a sound on his phone showing him a second number is calling. “I think Shoko is calling me, I’ll be right back at you. Tell your wife I’m bringing you and her something as well.”

“It better be good, last time you got her pineapple biscuits, what is wrong with you?”

“Those biscuits are good.”

“SHE’S ALLERGIC, SATORU.”

“OKAY, NO PINNEAPLES! WHY ARE YOU SCREAMING? Why am I screaming?” Satoru sighed before turning around from his cabinet with the pineapple biscuit.

He turned off the call with Geto who was busy with the girls to even notice. The second call was already off. Gojo shrugged, Shoko would definitely call again. Satoru was busy grabbing a random backpack is his closet when he heard his phone from the kitchen a couple of minutes later, he walked with the bag and picked the phone without seeing the id.

“Hi, you want to go to Geto’s house and prank the girls by teleportation?” Gojo starts to pack the bag, but stops when he hears no answer from Shoko, just breathing and thunder. “Wha…” Gojo takes the phone from his ears and checking the id find a random number. “Okay weirdo, this breathing thing is not really my cup of tea, know what I mean? I’m turning off now.”

“Don’t.” It’s a simple whisper, one word. It’s through the phone and the sound of wind, thunder clashes nearly at the exact same time. But Gojo hears your voice, and he doesn’t wonder if he heard right, but only if he is hallucinating, he would never forget your voice. “Please, don’t turn off.”

“Baby, please, please be you.” He has nothing else to say, no right question at this moment, the only thing in his head is you, has always been you.

“It’s me, Sato, I’m here.” He senses the smile in your voice, he can picture you with your eyes close and cuddling your face to the phone like he is doing right now. “Satoru, this is really, really important, okay? I need you to come get me now.”

Those ten years, Satoru had been waiting for this. Sensing the urgency of your words, Gojo removes his eye band.

“Tell me where you are, baby.”

Before you could answer, something snapped behind you.

“Here she is, dumb bitch couldn’t run that fast, after all. Still in our lands.” A man said causing not only yours but Satoru’s blood as well to run cold. You turned to him, admiring the blood dripping from the bite on his shoulder, your courtesy. “Let me make one thing clear, sweetheart, you’re never leaving here.” A slap followed his words. “Take her back to Naoya, he is waiting for the punishment.”

“FUCK.” A second man voice was present. “THE BITCH STOLE A PHONE.” All heads turned to him, in his hands was the object you dropped soon as you heard the men, the other line was silent but the call was still on.

“WHO WHERE YOU FUCKING CALLING?” The first man grabbed your hair, he approach his face to yours, forcing you to feel the putrid smell from his breath.

“I was ordering a pizza, asked for your favorite, no need to thank.” You stares at his nose for a moment, before launching at and biting it. Blood flows to your throat again in the day, he pushes you off and you stumble back, quickly getting up and spitting on the agonizing man. The other with the cellphone is scared, mostly due to the storms behind you, following the movements of your hands. “C’mon, I’m in the mood to a good fight.”

The man drops the phone. One step, is all he gives for you, all you allow before lighting meets him and he falls dead on the floor, a second hits the one on the floor. It takes you half a second to reach to phone, the call is still on but silent on the other side.

“Satoru?” You call worried for your lover.

“I’m here, baby.” You sigh in relief when he answers. He was coming your way, still.

“Did you heard me beating them?” You sit on the floor, under the rain who kisses your bruised skin softly, much like Gojo used to do. “I‘ve been waiting some time for this… How long was I out?”

“A long time.” Gojo answers are so short you wonder if you did the right thing by calling him. But if anything, he was the only number you had memorized, it was your only chance. When you first called him, he said something about ‘girls’ had he moved on? Are you allowed to be upset by this idea?

“Satoru, where are you?” It’s another whisper of yours he catch quick.

“I already said, baby. I’m here.”

You scrunch your eyebrows before getting up, turning your head for every direction, until you realized you had been so focused on the rain and Satoru’s voice, you didn’t catch the enormous red light over the trees and screams coming from the Zen’in clan’s houses direction.

“Stay where you are while I finish this, okay, baby?” He grunt, before you hear a punch being throw. “I‘ll come get you quick.”

You wait by the trees, sitting towards the entrance of the woods that you took off sprinting earlier. You were tired, had been years since you used your cursed technique, your muscles had gone missing after many malnourished sessions given by your kidnappers, as a lesson for disobedience, but you never stopped, never bowed down. For however long had the Zen’in Clan kept you, they never achieved their most sacred wish, the whole reason for capturing you. You were proud of that, even with your many scars and poorly healed broken bones, you were safe from the future they wanted, and now you were truly safe.

It’s silent before you see the first strands of white hair coming behind the trees. He moves gracefully with blood all over him, and you can tell none of it it’s his. Gojo keeps staring at the floor, but you know he knows you are there, standing up fast.

“Satoru?” You move towards him, but he catches your halfway, hugging your body like a cage you would have much preferred than the other you have lived. Your head is in his chest, and his is in your neck — both of you checking the other’s heartbeat, making sure it’s all real.

“If this is a dream, I hope I never wake up.” Satoru says against your skin. He lifts his gaze to be met with your eyes, so pretty he smiles. “But If I do, I’ll burn the Zen’ins again. I’ll take it as a sign, you are alive, you are waiting for me.” Gojo closes his eyes and bring his forehead to yours. “I’m sorry I took so long.”

“I am real, my love.” It’s you who initiates the kiss, he answers right away, hands moving to all the right places, keeping you still under him, where you have always been meant to be. Gojo doesn’t let you separate your lips, but does so when you start to giggle. “I want to leave, and after a perfect bath, we can have all the kisses in the world.”

“Do you want to see the others?”

Is a instant after your nod, and you are in the garden of a temple, hands interlock and gazes lifted, Satoru walks with you towards the entrance, he puts you behind him before getting inside a room.

“What took you so long?” You recognize Geto’s voice right away, you squeeze Gojo’s hand. “Thanks for my wife calling, Shoko and Utahime came.” Satoru is quiet in front of you. “What? Yeah, fine, I am disappointed you didn’t pranked my daughters, wife already put them to sleep anyways.” Oh, so Satoru wasn’t seeing anyone? Wait, daughters? How long you were out?

“What is it, Gojo?” Is Shoko who asks this time, but again Satoru keeps quiet. “Is that blood on you?” Your head shuffling and movement, but out of nowhere, Gojo moves to behind you, hands on your shoulders in a instant, startling everyone.

“You should check her first.” Is all he says while your old friends faces turns from shock to relief, and then tears. There is so many of those you feel your robes drenching more than before on the rain. But everything is warm, be the presence of your lover behind you or the arms of your found family, all burns away the fears of your past.

You take a shower with Satoru before returning to the living room with matching sweaters, Geto has you eating a proper meal before giving you the most extra decorated hot chocolate you had ever had. Is in his couch, under Satoru’s arm, that you start to talk.

“There was this woman many years ago, a sorcerer who could see the future, she left many letters hidden in many sealed boxes she buried all over Japan. One of those spoke about you, Satoru. She predicted your birth.” You gaze him quickly, before sipping the chocolate. “The Zen’in Clan wanted to find something about themselves, adamant she must have written when would the next sorcerer with the Ten Shadows Technique appear.”

All eyes are on you, avoidant of your trembling hands, except for Gojo, he grabs the cup from your hand and kisses your head.

“I found the boxes, it was my missions to find them for the High Ups. And I did good, but the Zen’in interfere, demanding to know just what concerned to them, and I guess someone took pity and let them read.” You gulped. “My name was on the last letter, saying that my blood was strong enough that I would bear an powerful heir, even stronger than their father. The letter specifically said who the father would be, a Gojo. with both Limitless and the Six Eyes.” You are already staring at Satoru, his eyes are all o ver your face, inspecting for the truth, there is a small smile on his face.

“I’m gonna be a cool dad.” It’s all he says before looking at your friends.

“Shut up.” You timidly said. “The thing is, the Zen’in only cared about my blood and genetics part, they thought if I give them a child, it could be the next Ten Shadows’s user. I can’t tell with certain, but I think they got the blessing from the High Ups, it was supposed to be a quick mission, even I thought it was weird, I’m always needed with weird quests. I found nothing but Zen’in Naoya, who proudly called himself my master and me his concubine.”

Your attention went to Gojo, he was biting the skin of his fingers, you grabbed his hands quickly and noticed the old scars and recent wounds, kissing all of them.

“They seized me with the help of a sorcerer from the Kamo Clan, she could power down my curse, in exchange for an heir to the Kamo’s as well, but electricity has always run on me. They learned to handle the shocks, but only for a couple of minutes. Naoya never touched me like that.” You said to calm your friends, but you as well. Had that woman been a bit more stronger, your life would have been different.

“That’s how I scape, before dinner they forgot that sorceress are humans as well, and I was left alone with her. I killed her with normal punches who turned into electrical punches. Then, I found Naoya and strike a lightning on his crouch, before I could do more damage, the others saw and i ran, grabbed his phone and called you, I thought I was going to die and needed to hear your voice.” There is tears streaming down not only your face, but everyone else’s. Your pain is being dissected in front of everyone, you had been so close all this time. “You didn’t pick up at first, but I kept trying, and you did. And it wasn’t enough, I needed to see you. So you came.”

“You called me, I will always come to you.” Satoru has you in his arms again, hugging you scared that this might all be a dream yet, he couldn’t live without you ever again, and with the way you would hold him back, he knew you felt the same.

Gojo had never been so sure of something when he made you get up from the couch with him, even confused you did and stared at your friends, their wet eyes were as confused as yours. You turn back to Satoru, and he is on one knee. Gojo hands left yours to move to his neck, removing his silver chain that was hidden under his shirt, now you see the dangling diamond ring in it. Satoru takes the ring and stares at you, hopelessly in love and devoted.

“You know I have always loved you, everyone in this room can testify to that. I knew you were alive, I knew we would see each-other again, and I promised myself that when we did met, I had to marry you.” You try hard to see Gojo through your wet vision, he smiles triumphantly even before he gives you the question. “I bought this ring after you disappeared, and it was what kept me safe, the promise that one day it would be in your finger, and your name complimented with mine. The future is what has held me, the thought of you. So please, my love, let’s start our future. Marry me?”

It’s the quickest ‘Yes’ you had ever said, you repeat it like a mantra, Gojo laughs while sliding the ring on your finger and kissing all over your hand, then he gets up and kisses you again and again and again, until Shoko, Utahime and Geto’s wife are pushing him away and hugging you, letting your fiancé to his friend.

Later that night, when the talk gets easier and calmer, with every couple holding themselves like a silent prayer of what could happen or re-happen, they take solace in their lovers. Shoko stares at Gojo and his happy smile, he looks, once more, so young. One of his hands goes straight to his lips, and Ieiri is tempted to slap it away from his teeth, but Gojo stops himself before anyone could, he simply moves one hand to your face in a love embrace and the other to touch your finger and keep spinning your ring.

The medic had been right all along, he is too busy devouring your love and attention and giving all those ten years of love he himself had kept, to focus on picking his skin. His scars would forever heal from now on, with you by his side, nothing would ever hurt again.

[dailypj]

(Assuming that you’ve already put some thought into characterizing PJ, tho feel free to ignore this if not! I’m just trying to scope out how to potentially write PaperJam’s character into a fic, since him being sort of a skeptic could mean that he wins the idgaf war too well and has no impact on the central plot yknow)

Do you have ideas for any fun internal conflicts or character arcs for PJ? If there’s a multiverse-threatening conflict unfolding, what would PJ be doing about it, if anything? What mcguffins or circumstances could be triggered that would quickly pique PJ’s interest enough to get involved?

As always my first piece of advice for writing anything pj is to go through the resources provided by his creator, @7goodangel (@-ing in case you wanna put in ur 2 cents, he is ur guy)

Here are the links for:

Pj’s bio

Pj info tag

Pj faq page (bit of a shortcut for the info tag since it holds answers to a lot of previously asked questions, tho not all of them)

now for an actual answer, there's a long ramble under the cut, enjoy

first thing that ik for sure is canon, pj would step in if it's necessary to protect his family (I believe it was a comment somewhere by 7 that stated that pj would go as far as suffocating someone for threatening his kid's life)

if the multiverse being in danger has the capacity to hurt his loved ones I'm sure he'd do something about it, but I think the lengths he's willing to go will vary depending on what/who is causing it and which other characters are joining the fight

Ink for example is definitely an interesting ally considering their past. a conflict between them is pretty much inevitable, especially if you take from canon and had them separated years prior

Now if pj’s loved ones aren't present here, that’s where my guesses on how she’d act get fuzzy. In the past, pj took it upon herself to judge whether certain aus should stay alive or be erased. She believed that what error did was wrong not because it was a massacre of innocents, but because he did it too indiscriminately

(I’d say it was pretty easy to gain a dehumanizing view of others when the 2 biggest influences she had referred to the masses as just fictional characters or anomalies…)

Now, she does indeed spare aus she deems acceptable, but I’m not sure how much she’s willing to risk for them. Cuz like, part of her self-given job is motivated by the want to prove she isn’t a mistake to the man who wants every universe to die

Basically she’s got some pretty dark grey morals and it’s fun to deconstruct them (or make them worse if you wanna go the antagonist pj route, equally fun imo)

now a more headcanon-y idea (aka the trait I tend to exaggerate in nearly every pj varient I've made thus far for angst purposes) is leaning into the whole "I have to be useful to be worthy of anyone's care" thing, and just strongly wanting to disprove bad assumptions/expectations about herself (especially the mistake thing) which couldd lead to her going down a phase of believing she should follow in ink's protector footsteps to try and become more of a priority in his eyes (with the added bonus of keeping fears other characters may have about her "becoming like error" at bay)

does it work? idk but maybe if she just obsesses over it even more the identity crisis will be worth it Slash J

so ya that's my 2 cents on a potential conflict based on canon stuff, absolutely feel free to go ham on whatever direction you feel like taking pj I'm just a big advocate for "learn the rules before you break them" 👍✨

[raileurta]

Been thinking about your unicron dad posts lately and this AU came to mind so I thought I’d share

Human!sparkeater AU

The spark is the only organic/ organic adjacent “organ” a cybertronian has

This would explain why life would pop up on earth, all of these organic lifeforms are offshoots of his spark.

This has been going on for so long that they don’t “take” any aspect of his spark anymore, they’ve completely separated by now

However, this means that organic life forms can eat a spark. Anything from a little ant to a human could hypothetically try to eat it

This would also tie into unicrons whole world eater thing as they would be able to incorporate cybertronians into the circle of life against their will

No clue how a spark would taste but honestly it’s hilarious to think that it’s somehow the most delicious and juicy thing known in the universe. Miko wouldn’t even bother trying to resist, but the other tfp humans would definitely have to hold back if they ever saw one unprotected for whatever reason

I could definitely see one of the autobots casually saying something like “haven’t seen (random decepticon) around for a while” as raph or someone would be trying their hardest to keep Miko quiet

I bet unicron would be so proud at creating a world of sparkeaters, he’d want to sic them on the universe so badly and has to deal with the autobots earning his little scraplets sympathy and unintentionally causing them to resist/ignore their whole sparkeating capabilities

Firstly, peak ask. 🙌 This is a really interesting idea.

Secondly, I like to imagine sparks are an essential part of terran’s diet or more specifically a human one. The reason they have such a short life span compared to their robot cousins is that humans die from a sort of spark deficiency. Like one might get sick or die if they didn't consume all the necessary nutrients. A Cybertronian spark is essentially for humans to thrive and for them to pupate into their true form.

Here's a rough sketch of what I imagine it looks like:

If any animal could eat a spark, picture a group of morally questionable transformers getting tons of hungry animals then just letting them run free in the Nemesis. The absolute carnage that would ensue would be legendary.

As for what a spark might taste like? Hmm it definitely would be very juicy. I imagine it has the consistency of something like hard ice cream with a semi-thick outer shell that's made of apples that's also somehow flaky. The taste would be ✨electric ✨ to say the least but also be sweet but not too sweet. Really thinking about it I can also see the core being thick and gooey.

Damn, I want to eat a spark now. 🤤

I feel like the first bot Miko would eat is Hardshell. There's not a lot of situations I can think of where Miko could reasonably get access to a spark before this. Plus it's just more dramatic.

After Miko had shot down Hardshell instead of dying he's just severely injured with his spark casing completely broken and the spark just out in the open. The girl flies over to (dinner) the insecticon, then gets out of the ship to finish the job. However, when she climbs up onto his chassis getting close to his spark she's hit with an overwhelming wave of HUNGER. Then poor Wheeljack has to watch on in abject terror as his pseudo-daughter eats a bot’s being alive right in front of him. Of course afterwards Miko evolves in an extremely bloody and gory way into her true form.

After experiencing the most traumatic event in his entire very long life and blowing up those insecticons he heads back to base where he has to awkwardly explain what had happened.

Or in a different scenario; Miko didn't evolve and just got a lot stronger. She needs to eat more sparks to truly evolve. Wheeljack doesn't say anything about this to the Autobots as he doesn't want anything bad to happen to Miko and he really doesn't want to cross her. Of course if I did some fanfic writing magic Miko could eat a spark before the end of season one so Unicron can praise Miko. That would be funny.

I can imagine he also has his own versions of primes; but instead of them being all serious and virtuous they're loud, chaotic, all over the place generally, and a bit of murder goblins.

Unicorn wants his little parasites to ravage the universe in their wake but they got bonked in the head with the morality stick. He would be sooooo pissed about this. So for now he will think of a plan to “fix’ this and encourage the resident insane girly to cause problems.

Beta read by @a-non-ymouswriter expect for the art text because I forgot.

[possessable]

Hi guys remember that elaborate Captain Underpants And The Insidious Incident of the Infectious Inside Joke fanfic idea i had but never actually wrote ? Here's the Entire summary/rough planning document in case you wanted to know how it actually went (warning it is the entire thing under the readmore so it's Long):

George and Harold take note that the students of Jerome Horwitz Elementary seem a little bit off today. They're all smiling and giggling about something, though about what exactly is indiscernible—not to mention The Glowing Yellow Eyes. Oh well, surely it's nothing Captain Underpants can't deal with!

(It's something Captain Underpants can't deal with.)

(Maybe someone else can?)

Over the weekend, George and Harold are hanging out in the treehouse, staying up late trying to plan out a Captain Underpants Theme Song(TM) (It's the Weird Al one, they're the ones who came up with it in universe for this fanfic I guess)

eventually when it gets to be too late they go home and say they'll keep planning it tomorrow, Sunday.

Alas, Tomorrow Comes and it is /not/ Sunday, It's Monday -- Both of the boys lost track of time and forgot that it was Actually The end of the weekend. Both of them accidentally slept in, and are Late For School. They end up rushing to get there so fast that they don't notice something is Slightly Off about the passerbys of the city streets…passerbyes? how do you pluralize "passerby"-- I mean that A Bunch Of people are weird and have glowing yellow eyes and big smiles and George and Harold don't notice.

("why are they rushing they don't seem like the type to be concerned about being late" it's funny sorry)

Point is, they get to school and everyone there is Slightly Off too, who would've guessed? The students are smiling and a lot of them are formed into weird little huddled groups whispering to each other and laughing And Also They Have Glowing Yellow eyes. George and harold do, in fact, think this is a little bit strange, but probably don't take as much note of it as they should.

George: Why is everyone so happy? Harold: Maybe they read our comic and thought it was really funny. George: We didn't /make/ a new comic, we were busy trying to figure out that theme song. Harold: Oh, yeah. uhhh. They're still laughing at one of our older ones, maybe? George: You might be giving us too much credit Harold: We can never have too much credit. George: Hmm. yeah, that's true.

They eventually gotta go to their separate classes and they're like

Harold: Oh, we were so preoccupied that we didn't even come up with any big pranks to do… George: I've always got some quick backups! [pulls out a whoopee cushion for himself] Might not be the most elaborate, but it's a classic. [he takes out…another prank item, i don't know i haven't figured it out, and tosses it to harold.] Harold: [nodding] Classic.

So they part ways and go to their classes.

Cut to George's class, the other students are weirdly well behaved, sitting still and staring straight forward with the same smile plastered on their faces. George looks around, a little confused at their cheerful dispositions, but the teacher Ms. Ribble still seems to be normal and blah-blah-blah-ing boringly about Whatever Subject.

George decides to put his simple prank plan into action and tosses the whoopee cushion onto her chair as she's sitting down. She sits on it, it makes the Funny Fart Sound, she gets annoyed--but none of the other students laugh or react whatsoever. They continue their blank-smiled stares.

Ms. Ribble simply removes the whoopee cushion from her chair with an irritated look on her face and continues teaching. George is baffled.

(During that whole scene it's intermittently cutting to Harold's class, where The Same Thing Happens with his prank attempt. He is /also/ baffled.)

Anyway, at the end of their classes, the students file out of the door in a neat line (except for george and harold who kind of just walk past everyone else confusedly. as George leaves--in the background, one of the smiling students approaches Ms.Ribble. She looks at them indignantly like "what do you want" but then the student grabs her by the arm and yanks her down so they're face to face, about to Do Something--George doesn't notice at all and leaves before the interaction is completed.)

Point is, George and Harold meet up again in the hallway, and both of them Immediately ask -

George and Harold, simultaneously: What was THAT??? Harold: Nobody even -- George: There wasn't even a /single/ sensible chuckle at the whoopee cushion! How can you not chuckle at a whoopee cushion!? Harold: That's what I was about to say!!!! Nobody reacted at ALL! George: Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Harold: Something weird is going on! george [at the same time]: Something weird is going on…

They walk down the hallway for a bit longer, this time taking more note of the weird huddled groups of whispering students. They grow More Concerned.

Then Melvin walks up to them.

Melvin: Do you two know what's going on with everyone today? It is /very/ annoying. Did you put out another one of your juvenile comics? George: Actually, no. We're with you on this one, we have no idea what's so funny. Melvin: Hm. Whatever… I have calculus notes to study…[walks off to go to his locker] Harold: ?????? Calculus????

Melvin tries to get to his locker, but there's one of those weird huddles of kids (three kids, probably) in front of it. He tries to push past them and utterly fails.

Melvin: Uh. Hello? You're standing in front of my locker. [The children ignore him and continue whispering and laughing to themselves.] Melvin: /What/ are you /giggling/ at? The Children, all in unison: We learned a really funny joke. Melvin: …Right. Can you-- The Children: Do you want to know what it is? Melvin: If the explanation for your joke requires a lead-in /asking me/ if i want to know the joke, then it's probably too long of an explanation! I don't have time for this… [starts walking off] I can--

As Melvin tries to leave, one of the kids grabs him by the arm and pulls him back. He protests, obviously, but another one of the kids leans in and whispers something in his ear, then giggles. Melvin looks confused at first, and then his face shifts and he starts smiling like the other kids are. He laughs , and with a little blinks, acquires The Glowing Yellow eyes.

George and harold have been watching this entire interaction from the sidelines and are now Obviously concerned. Melvin notices them and approaches, like "They were right, the joke IS really funny :-) I think you two would like it, do you want to know what it is?"

George and harold Do Not. They run away.

As they're running in panic, they discuss how something is DEFINITELY wrong -- maybe before it could be denied, but melvin Would Not Say That. Also, some of the kids notice them and start chasing after them. They get to the front of the school and they're about to run out the doors, but Krupp walks up and stops them, crossing his arms.

Krupp: What do you two think you're doing? George: Principle Krupp! There's-- Krupp: You two show up late for school, run around in the halls which is /absolutely/ against the rules-- Harold: [gesturing to the weird kids] Mister Krupp, there's a-- Krupp: Don't interrupt me--and now you're trying to /leave/ entirely? Not on my watch! You two, my office, n-- George: [snaps]

Obviously Captain tries to do that thing where he rips off all of his clothes and yells his Mighty Battle Cry but George and Harold stop him like "No, hold on, you'll draw too much attention to us" and usher him out the door. They run back to the tree house.

In the treehouse, Captain switches back into his usual (lack of) clothes.

Captain: What's the situation, sidekicks? George: There's some sort of weird…happy humorous hivemind… Captain: Humorous happy hivemind, huh? Harold: Some sort of insidious incident of an infectious inside joke… George: Title drop Captain: What? Harold: [nodding] Title drop Captain: Hm! Well, I don't know what that means but all-in-all i appreciate the awesome act of alliteration.

So they explain in more detail what they're talking about, and decide they need to go out and try to find The Source of this weird hivemind plague and put A STOP to it!

Before heading out, they decide to stock up on supplies and Weapons for Self Defense… They look around the treehouse. George finds a slingshot and decides that's good enough. Harold is like "I swear I had something good around here, a nerf gun or something…" but can't find it. Captain helps look around and at first finds the plans for the theme song and he's like "Oh this is great :-D" but now is not the time for that of course . he finds a SuperSoaker instead and picks it up, pointing it directly to his face

captain: Ooh, what's this, a watergun? harold: DON'T POINT THAT AT YOUR-- captain: Kidding, kidding! [hands it to Harold] I learned to stop doing that after the first 15 times. george: 16 captain: Yes!

with that , They head out.

The people on the streets are, in fact, all weird and infeccted as well. Captain is briefly like "Hey what's the problem with this hivemind if it's making people happy that doesn't seem too bad -- [one of the infected tries to grab him violently by the arm] Nevermind that's weird [he punches them away]"

They try to figure out what could've possibly caused Whatever Is Going On, standing in an area with no infected to try and think. While the boys are trying to figure that out, captain goes "Well, atleast we can look at this lovely sunset while we wait."

The boys go "What ??? Captain it's the middle of the day, there's no sunset--" and then look to see what he's talking about and notice that part of the sky is, in fact, being tinted weird shades of orange and yellow by this ominously silhouetted glowing thing on top of a tall building.

It's a meteor. There's a giant glowing meteor that landed on top of a building in the city, particularly a building that boasts the city's Moderately Large Spaghetti Bowl Monument, a large empty metal spaghetti bowl + fork statue. It landed inside of the bowl, obviously, fitting perfectly and causing little structural damage to the rest of the building.

They decide to check it out. Captain flies them all over there, temporarily leaving the boys nearby on the ground below while he heads up to go confront The Meteor.

He flies up to it, inspects it closely, determines it to be Just A Weird Rock that doesn't hold any immediate threat to him, and turns away to give a little speech, "Worry not, citizens of this marvelous metropolis! This strange glowing rock stands no chance against the great warrior of waistbands!"

He turns back to notice that the meteor is glowing even brighter and making a weird charge-up sound, and does not process it in time to dodge when it shoots a giant laser beam at his face.

He falls to the ground, making a giant crater when he impacts the floor. George and harold shout "No!" and run up to check on him. he has little scrapes on his face from having fallen into the ground so hard.

so follows this one comic:

So they run away, of course--and Captain pursues them, of course.

So now they're running through the streets fighting off regular infected with their shoddy weapons [Watergun and Slingshot] while also trying to evade Captain, who is More Dangerous because he Has Superpowers. He starts trying to attack them by doing the underwear slingshot thing at them

Harold: No! I never thought the unlimited underwear ability would be used against us! George: What about the super strength and flight and stuff? Harold: I know, but the unlimited underwear thing is just so much more personal… George: [sighing sadly] Yeah, it is…

After a while of running, they end up cornering themselves in an alleyway, because that always happens in situations like these.

They try to figure out what to do, because they can't imagine their dinky little kids toy weapons would do anything against Captain, but they don't have much time to think because George gets Threateningly Grabbed By The Collar Of His Shirt and Lifted By The Infected Hero.

Harold panics and finally just shoots Captain in the face with the supersoaker.

He drops George, shutting his eyes while he shakes the water out of his face with a "Aughrublblsgjblrbh!" noise--and when he opens them again, the yellow glow is gone. And Also He is Very Angry and Confused looking.

Krupp: WBHUH. WHAT. [looks at Lack Of Clothes] Not this again! George, Harold, WHY am I--!?? [he looks at the boys for 5 seconds to see that they look genuinely afraid and panicked. He quiets down from his yelling, now too preoccupied Being Slightly Concerned to feel angry] Krupp: Why are you… [looks around for a little bit more and then notices the scrapes on his face] Why is my face-- George: Wait, Krupp isn't infected! Harold: [gasp] You're right! Krupp: What? [Harold grabs Krupp by the arm and start running out of the alleyway] Harold: We're going to the treehouse, now! Krupp: [now angry again] WHAT? CAN I AT LEAST FIND MY CLOTHES FIRST!? George: They're at the treehouse. Krupp: THEY'RE AT THE--!?? Of course they're at the treehouse, why wouldn't they be at the treehouse?

Cut to the treehouse.

Krupp angrily puts on his clothes and his toupee.

Krupp: You boys…have a /lot/ of explaining to do. [long uncomfortable silence] George: …I'm gonna try something first Krupp: What do you mean /try somethi/-- [George snaps at Krupp. This brings back the glowing yellow eyes and empty smile on Captain's face, and he immediately lunges at george to try and attack him again. Harold shoots him with the supersoaker.] George: sorry i wanted to see if captain was back to normal yet Krupp: AUAGABLBHRGHBL [shakes head] What /is/ that!? Stop doing that! George: Okay, okay! explaining now!

The boys explain the whole "there's a weird hivemind thing going on (We had nothing to do with it this time we swear), and everyone in the school got infected, and everyone on the streets is infected, and YOU got infected too--but we…splashed you with water…which snapped you out of it, and, uhh, uhhhh"

They neglect to mention Captain.

Krupp stares at them skeptically.

They decide to tack on "Also, you have superpowers…?"

/That/ gets Krupp to react--He goes "WHAT? That is ridiculous! This is another one of your guys' stupid pranks there's--" starts laughing incredulously "I DO NOT Have--" he immediately stops laughing "….what type of superpowers"

george and harold very casually list off some of them like "oh yeah uh, flight. super strength, super resilience, uhh"

krupp stares at the floor like "…i guess that would…explain that one time when…[cut to flashback of him accidentally levitating to get something off of a high shelf and then only noticing 5 seconds later] …and the…. that other time when [cut to flashback of him getting frustrated and slamming his head on his desk only to break the entire thing in half]"

george and harold look at him, saying "i bet he's having a sequence of comedic but also revelatory flashbacks right now"

Anyway, while Krupp is having a small crisis, The Boys huddle and talk to each other.

Harold: How are we gonna get out of this one? George: "This one" as in Krupp knowing about the super powers or "This one" as in the alien meteor plague? Harold: Both! George: Hmm. Look, I hate to say this, but I think with a situation as widespread as this, we may need… Harold: No… George: We need Good, Responsible adults on our team! Harold: UGH George: And with Captain out of commission, we just have "responsible!" [gestures to Krupp] Harold: I guess you're right…but who else even is there? It's not like any of the staff at the school would help us! george: [thinking] george: except for… Harold: Oh, right! Harold: [turns back to Krupp] You stay here, we gotta get someone Krupp: [preoccupied looking at a figurine of captain underpants]

To make a long story short, they go to the school cafeteria to get Edith.

they explain "EDITH! THere's a weird alien hivemind thing and and-and the. WE NEED HELP!!"

and edith really doesn't question it too hard before taking out a cast iron pan from Somewhere like "Okay i'll help you guys"

and then the boys are like "Wh. W. No you can't use a cast iron pan these -- that's like, an actual--that will concuss people"

edith proceeds to go "OH right right sorry so sorry" and takes out a stainless steel pan instead because it's a bit lighter. george and harold obviously object to this as well before edith chooses an actually acceptable kitchen weapon [fire extinguisher maybe? she picks it up and the boys are like "NO THAT WILL ALSO CONCUSS PEOPLE" but then she demonstrates that she's gonna use it by spraying the fire extinguisher and not by using it as a blunt force weapon and they're like "okay yeah that's fine whatever"]

The boys get back to the treehouse and climb inside.

Krupp: Oh, you're back. [putting down the paper with the captain underpants theme song planning on it, which he was holding for some reason] This place is an absolute /pig-sty/ by the way! Why does it smell like grape soda in here? You should-- edith: [climbs inside of the treehouse as well] Krupp: [immediately shuts up] Heyyyy Edithhhh [charasmatically leans against something and rests his head on his palm] edith: Benjamin Krupp [charasmatically Snaps And Does Fingerguns]

captain immediately tries to lunge at george and harold again but they shoot him with the supersoaker [they're not even scared this time they're just unamused] and they look at edith like "DO NOT snap at him." edith is like "Right right sorry I forgot." Krupp is confused.

The boys start explaining and planning like

Harold: Okay. We have to get to the meteor's building--and it /will/ be a dangerous journey. Since Krupp can't fly us there like Captain would've-- krupp: what? harold: --we've planned out an entire route by foot, each step we take will be meticulously calculated to avoid dangerous encounters and [insert overly planned and overly dramatic route drawn on a paper map of the city, insert the boys mentioning] … if we get into trouble edith can take one for the team and lure the infected away for us-- krupp: What!?? edith: [nods agreeably] harold: --because she's definitely smart and could survive on her own Krupp: AND I COULDN'T???

eventually after way too much explanation of their elaborate plan Krupp finally interrupts [almost snaps to get their attention but refrains and waves his hands/claps instead] to say "Guys. hey. Hey listen to me."

and the boys are like "What?"

and Krupp is like "I Have a car"

To make a long story short, they drive to the meteor building and go inside so they can get to the roof. In the building there are More Infected--with each level they go up the infected get More Aggressive due to their proximity to the meteor. Shenanigans ensue, montage of them fighting off the infected with their ridiculous weapons [supersoaker, slingshot, fire extinguisher, krupp doesn't even have a weapon he's just there] and also with each floor they're trying to get Krupp to figure out how to use his powers. He's doing an Okay Job at figuring them out but not A Great Job.

Also, the entire time the boys keep humming/singing the captain underpants theme song and krupp is like "Can you stop doing that it's annoying"

Anyway, eventually on one of the higher floors the windows are broken for some reason-- edith gets into A Scuffle with an infected person and uhh. gets shoved out of one of the windows. Krupp tries to grab her but fails, so she falls out of the building. Naturally, Krupp jumps out after her without the slightest bit of hesitation.

This concerns the boys greatly because to them it looks like the two adults on their team just died.

Obviously they /don't/ die, though. Krupp , falling, reaches out for edith , managing to grab her and finally figure out how to intentionally use his flight powers for the first time . He flies back up to the floor that George and Harold are at, holding edith in a bridal style carry with both of them looking utterly baffled, and Harold is just like

(old art haha)

Anyway. now that he can fly they don't need to scale up the rest of the floors of the building, they just fly up to the roof of the building.

Also, krupp by this point has begun humming/singing the captain underpants theme song to himself as well and george and harold are like "i thought you said it was annoying" and krupp begrudgingly admits "IT'S CATCHY."

Anyway, Meteor time!

I don't feel like typing the rest, it's just those two comics i made

Anyway, Yada yada yada, they have a confrontation and a fight ensues. George is like "Let everyone go from your weird hivemind thing!" and the following comic i made happens:

anyway. The Meteor then shoots another beam at george and actually hits him because Krupp was too distracted waiting for an answer to help him dodge this time (krupp: WAIT NO)

(harold: No! George! D-: Why does this keep happening it's just like the anti-humor beam from the first movie krupp: [from across the room] The first what? harold: Nothing)

anyway george is infected now. he stands up Slowly and Ominously and starts walking towards harold to infect him as well or something [meteor's not just using a beam again for The Drama] and harold is like "George! No! Uhh, uhh--" he panics and tries to think of something to do and just ends up singing the captain underpants theme song that they were coming up with the day before. George actually stops his approach and freezes for a second.

Meteor: [confused] What are you doing? krupp: [alarmed] What are you doing!? harold: I DONT KNOW I JUST THOUGHT IT MIGHT HELP [continues badly singing]

Harold keeps singing and it does seem to stop/confuse george from going any further. edith also joins in. The meteor yells at them to shut up because the song is annoying. Harold is like "i think you mean it's Catchy :-)" and the meteor is like "No I do not."

Note to self. This would be a lot more dramatic in the actuual thing the summary document makes it sound stupid as hell but that's okay

extended period of silence before the meteor starts going "nananana captain underpants yeah yeah yeaaa" to itself and then it's like "GOD DAMN IT"

Anyway, point is, they all sing the themesong at it really loudly [krupp also joins in hesitantly] until the meteor goes "NO WHY IS YOUR MEMETIC COGNITOHAZARD MORE POWERFUL THAN MY MEMETIC COGNITOHAZARD!??" and gets annoyed/intimidated into Literally Growing Legs and walking away.

Conflict resolved! George is back to normal now. All is well. except george doesn''t seem super happy it seems like Seomething is on his mind still [thinking about the ethicality of Captain's existence]

They recoup at the treehouse again.

George starts guiltily explaining the entirety of the "we hypnotized you into being a superhero" thing to Krupp.

Krupp stares the entire time with an unreadable facial expression until George is done talking. There's an uncomfortable silence during which george and harold are expecting krupp to blow up at them.

eventually though krupp is just like "…wow. of course it was you. why wouldn't it been you?" in an oddly calm voice that sounds more relieved than angry

my explanation for why krupp isnt that mad by the end of the fic when he learns that george and harold did the hypno ring thing on him is because it takes place a relatively long time after the first movie [a year maybe? even over a year?] and during the first couple of months afterward he wasextremely mad and confused without an explanation but eventually resigned himself to just Not Having an explanation so now that he does have one he's just like "well. i should be absolutely furious but i already spent all of my furiousness now i'm just relieved to know not in a "im being nice and forgiving you on purpose" way more in a "i feel like i should be angry and i kind of want to be angry but im literally just not"

anyway, Another Awkward Silence Follows before george gingerly asks "uh…can we… see if captain is back to normal now?"

krupp is like "yeah whatever i've had enough of existing for today sure" and snaps at himself. Captain is, in fact, back to normal -- though he is also very confused and startled before george explains that they already saved the day and everything's good now.

uh, idk, Conclusion here?

The end!

EXTRAS:

i think i was gonna do a gag where edith is immune to the hivemind , which is because she is also an alien, but she just explains it to the gang as "oh i already have a distinct eye color of my own so i'm immune to it making my eyes yellow which means i'm also immune to the rest of it." this also means she was going to be shielding harold from the beam attacks by just like, standing in front of him and letting it hit her instead

i maybe was planning on putting a part sometime when they're ascending the building where the meteor talks directly to the gang through captain (possibly some music on the building's intercom/radio has snapping in it, whatevah) and then it monologues all mysterious and intimidating like "ohhh you are scaling my tower to have a direct confrontation with me? okay i won't stop you, but do you think --" and then edith is like "oh wait! i know you. (turns to the gang) i knew this meteor in college it sucked" and the meteor's just like "SHUT UP whatever nevermind i'm done monologuing just shoot the guy with the water again. see you at the top!"

the reason why captain is infected and krupp isn't is because it's a knowledge-based memetic infection. if you Know the joke you are Susceptible to the infection. however, due to The Memory Loss between the two, captain knows it and krupp does not. the beam attack is just the meteor beaming knowledge of the joke directly into someone's head without using a secondary proxy like someone verbally speaking/whispering it

the joke in question is cosmic and unknowable and incomprehensible to human-minds specifically, but for aliens it's the equivalent of a really basic/unfunny "why'd the chicken cross the road" style joke. at some point in the fic i think edith was gonna get grabbed and fakeout infected but after a Moment of Suspense, it's revealed to have absolutely no effect on her, and she just pipes up with "That joke's not even funny!" . this might have been what led up to her getting shoved out of the window because the infected resorted to more violent methods of getting her out of the way if she wasn't infectable

[tossawary]

You know, given all of the cloning and other evil experiments that Palpatine apparently had going on, it's a little remarkable in hindsight that he never targeted Shmi Skywalker personally.

Like, this woman apparently reproduced asexually and gave birth to one of the most powerful Force-sensitives of all time; I don't generally characterize Sith Lords as having great scientific curiosity or a sense of wonder for the universe (or bothering to remember "little" people exist most of the time), because their whole deal kind of precludes that, but it seems reasonable that one might conclude that there's potential power in investigating this.

If Anakin was friendly with Palpatine for the latter half of his childhood, it seems like it could have been relatively easy for Palpatine to learn things like 1) Anakin's midichlorian count (which he can use to tell Anakin that everyone else is just jealous of his power) and 2) Shmi's situation on Tatooine (which he can use to foster resentment between Anakin and the Jedi Order for not helping Shmi too). Just get Anakin a little frustrated and he'll probably start talking! Palpatine could make some concerned offer to send someone to check on Anakin's mother - it is the least that Naboo can do for the family that helped to save them, the Chancellor might say, but he would prefer that such favoritism remain a secret between them - and then Sidious would have Watto's exact address no problem.

And it's not like it would be hard to kidnap Shmi. Palpatine (as Sidious?) could pick some random bounty hunter and order them to go buy her, because this amount of money is presumably pocket change to him, and if Watto resists selling her off to a stranger, the bounty hunter can claim that they've come on behalf of her son. And if that doesn't work or if Shmi is already with the Lars family, there's always violence. Palpatine can just lie to Anakin and say that his agent discovered Shmi was targeted by enemies of the Jedi Order. Oh, what a shame they didn't protect her!

I don't know what would happen from here. Sidious could potentially contract the Kaminoans as a private, anonymous citizen to research Shmi and see if she'll be useful to him at all; the Kaminoans seem to be in the business of designer babies for specific clients (Jango + my vague memories of some "Clone Wars" comic). Which means that Shmi could be unhappily, awkwardly hanging around Kamino, probably still enslaved, when Jango Fett and the clones business is going on. For years, potentially.

Ideally for the Sith, the Kaminoans would be keeping Shmi in an entirely separate facility most of the time, away from the army intended for the Jedi and the Republic. But Jango might be sent around the planet on errands or something and the Kaminoans might need to use very specific equipment at some points, and I am a fan of grand plans being ruined by chance encounters or workplace logistics, so I think it would be fun if Shmi met Jango or Boba. Maybe Palpatine assumed that the Kaminoans had already disposed of Shmi or were keeping her on ice, due to a badly worded email or something else mundane, because the Kaminoan forgot the right Basic word (it's not their first language!!! or a translator malfunctioned or something) during their space phone call.

There's lots of Canon Divergence directions for this, like more serious angst or drama or thriller horror being imprisoned by a Sith Lord (somewhere besides Kamino) or discovering what's being done to the clones. Shmi could end up being rescued by Jedi and helping uncover Sidious. Or she could have a different tragic ending.

(This whole post regarding Shmi and cloning is partially inspired by that one post pointing out that Rey looks a lot like Shmi, and given the strange circumstances of Anakin's birth, any attempt to clone Anakin might have created a clone of Shmi instead. I still think a "Rey as Anakin's clone" is a fun sequel trilogy AU.)

I'm leaning towards fix-it and comedies of errors ideas because the prequels are tragic enough for me. Currently, I'm thinking about Shmi eventually ending up as part of young Boba Fett's gang somehow, because it's amusing to me that he was somehow a recurring antagonistic figure on that TCW show despite being a child. The other bounty hunters are like, "Kid, did you... bring your mom on this mission...?" And Boba Fett is like, "No!!! She's my ship mechanic!!! But if you touch her, just so you know, I will fucking kill you."

I think that both Anakin and Boba would fucking hate being adoptive brothers in any way, shape, or form. And the idea of Luke and Leia someday having an "Uncle Boba Fett" is also very funny to me.

(EDIT: I'm currently dubious regarding a Jango/Shmi ship because Jango does participate in the creation and enslavement of the clone army. Like, it's the Kaminoans who do it, they hold most of the blame and they would have gotten someone else if Jango hadn't done it, but Jango is very much there and at the very least complicit in a horrifying series of crimes against millions of people. Depending on how you characterize Shmi Skywalker, an enslaved woman, I don't really think she'd be cool with that. She let her child go off to become a Jedi because she thought it would be a much better life for him, while Jango sold his own "children" off into war for money. So, I'm currently thinking that Shmi might like the innocent child Boba, but she might honestly dislike Jango quite a lot.)

[luviisabella]

hii! This is my first time requesting from you! I absolutely adore your writings, they’re so cute! ANYWAYY my request is katsuki x male reader with a dog quirk that gives them a tail and ears and the reader has a golden retriever personality type and basically katsukis making fun of him for running late, hair messy, tie not done properly, the whole shabang. He’s like “damn do you not know how to tie a tie?” And the reader (without thinking) goes “nope.” and KATSUKI DOES HIS TIE FOR HIM?!?! but that’s not all (I feel like an evil villain hehe) katsuki sees his tail wagging!!! omg this is so long but I can’t get this idea out of my head and I’m too lazy to write it ‼️‼️

— 🐾 annon

Ooh I love this concept, so sorry for the late response ml !! 🫶🏽🫶🏽 However the dog quirk is a great idea, love love love animal quirks <3

For Anon: Male Reader x Katsuki Bakugou

Category: Fluff + Universty AU 💘

[7:35am]

Where the hell is he.

Bakugou was watching the time go by and noticing how you were yet to be seen. Class had started 35 minutes ago and you usually were never late.

[8:20am]

“Alright, I’m going to take a break. Don’t destroy anything while I’m sleeping or I’ll have all of you taking a remedial class.” Mr. Aizawa never failed to come up with an outrageous punishment for his students, even now in university.

Bakugou glanced at the clock one more time before scoffing and getting up. Sero wanted to ask where he was headed but judging by the look on Bakugou’s face, Sero decided to value his life and dignity.

Once Bakugou turned the corner of the hall he ran into someone.

“All this space in the God damn hallway and you can’t-“ he looked down and noticed it was you. You looked like a mess.

Your breathing was frantic, hair sticking up like a compass in all directions. Your tie could’ve been put on backwards and your shirt was half tucked into your pants and half not.

Bakugou didn’t even know where to start with questions.

“You look like shit. What happened ?”

“My alarm.. I accidentally set it for 6:30pm and not am so I woke up like 20 minutes ago” your ears were facing down and your tail sunk. It was clear you rushed to get here and in the process made no effort to notice your appearance.

“Jesus. At least look alive.”

He stepped closer to you and began adjusting your tie. You felt your tail quirk up and immediately shoved it down, keeping your hands behind your back.

You couldn’t help but stare at him in admiration. He was so focused on your tie and your shirt you didn’t realize how beautiful he was until you really got a good look at him.

Your tie and shirt were not adjusted but that hair.

“A tornado pick you up on the way here ?” He grinned and you turned your head in embarrassment not realizing your hair looked that bad. He gently placed his hands on certain strands to make it look more decent.

In response, your ears shot up and now your tail wagging back and forth. You were too in awe to realize it, at least not until he pointed it out.

His eyebrow quirked up. “You excited or sum ?” He asked but didn’t stop fixing your hair.

“What ?”

“Your tail’s movin”

You felt your face heat up like a star when he pointed it out. You looked down, no longer wanting to meet his gaze.

“Sorry, that happens when I’m happy or excited”

“Really ?” And he pulled back after taking in your appearance. A small grin on his face.

—

“Looks like your gonna have to come in late more often then” and with that he shoved his hands in his pockets and walked away.

Thank God he did because the way your tail stood on its end and your ears perked up, someone would think you just won a million bucks.

And let’s just say...

This was not the last time you showed up late.

I hope you enjoyed this my love !! Again sorry for such a late reply but I did enjoy this concept sm, I honestly kind of want to write something separate about a quirk like this, Thank you for the ask, mwah !! 🫰🏽💖

[hmhas-00]

Ch. 12

Hit Me Hard & Soft

A/N- Hi everyone! Starting next week, I’m going to start posting once a week, instead of twice. Posting day will be Thursdays! 🩷 Also, the love and support means sooo much to me. It makes my heart do a split on it. 🩷

BPOV

We took off, going to every one of our favorite spots in the Upper West side. We ended the late night off at the Riverside Park near Columbia University, sitting at a bench with a great view of the Hudson river. The cold air hits us, blowing our hair slightly on our faces. I look straight at the moonlit horizon line, crossing my arms to keep warm.

“You remember when we found this place?” She rubbed her hands together to create some body heat and stuffed them in her jacket pockets.

I breathed out a laugh, “Yeah. We were just wandering around, outside the campus with Finneas late at night. And you busted your ass in the snow by the icy stairs over there.”

She smacked my arm as we laughed. You could see our breath in front of us from how cold it was. “That was 2018. We were just babies.”

I noticed her look over at me. Her nose was bright red from the frosty air, and her lips were a pale purple from licking them so much to keep them moist. The dying trees above us cast a shadow in the moonlight, but the street lights around us provided the perfect glow.

“I missed you.” She said, her voice mellow.

“I missed you too, Rem. I’m so sorry that I wasn’t the person you needed me to be.” I couldn’t help but notice she still had a lot on her mind. And I did too. I wanted to be completely honest with her, tell her everything I felt, and warm up those freezing lips. Ugh, I had to stop these thoughts. They only get in the way. I turned my attention back to the river.

“No, I get it.” She shrugged, looking away for a moment, then turning back. “We’re okay?” She asked.

I nodded, “We’ll be okay.” I focused on the water.

I could feel her staring at me for a moment but I didn’t want to give in. Finally, she leaned her head on my shoulder. “I love you, Billie.”

I wrapped my arm around her, rubbing her arm to warm her up. The words slipped out of my mouth without a second thought, almost like an impulse habit. “I love you more, Rem.” I didn’t want to admit it, but I noticed my heart felt whole again.

“I don’t wanna leave.” She whined.

“When do you leave?”

“Tomorrow night.”

“No, stay longer. I’ll get your flight back changed.” I pleaded.

“I can’t. I have to be back at work on Monday.” She said, her voice low.

“Okay.” I bit my tongue. I just got her back and I already had to start my goodbyes. I sighed, feeling disappointed. “We’ll make the most of it, then.” I squeezed her arm.

She brought her other arm around me and hugged me tight. “I wish we could turn back time and be teenagers again and enjoy this park for the first time. And not have responsibilities.” She sighed.

“Me too… We should get going, it’s getting late.” I said.

“Yeah…” Our words lingered in the midnight wind.

We stayed there for a few more minutes, admiring the silence. You couldn’t hear the cars honking or the people murmuring through the city.

“I have an idea!” Remy stood up, startling me.

“What!”

“Let’s go on the Staten Island Ferry! It’s open 24 hours remember?” She grabbed my hand, pulling me off the bench.

“Right now? It’s midnight.” I tried to pull out my phone to read the time, but the pocket was still empty.

“Let’s go! Come on! We’ll just do a round trip, it’ll be fun. It’ll be empty!” She giggled as she pulled me toward the subway entrance, hand in hand.

We hopped on the train and 30 minutes later arrived at the ferry. We laughed and talked the whole way there. We caught each other up on everything we missed while I was gone. It was like we never separated. When the subway doors opened, she grabbed my hand and we ran to the station.

“This is so cheesy.” I laughed, finding a quiet area to sit and wait for the next ferry out.

“It’ll be fun! A little boat ride!” She giggled.

“Such a tourist.” I nudged her. I paused for a second, trying to think of what else to talk about. “When can I see you again? You know, after this…”

She hummed, mentally checking her schedule. “I could see if next month I can take a week off to come see you.”

I slumped back in my seat, wishing it would be sooner than that. “A month huh…” I pouted, “Maybe I can come to you. Maybe for Halloween.”

“Yes! I would love that!” She cheered, excitement all over her face.

“I’ll go to you every chance I get, but I’d love if you can join me sometimes too. Even if it’s just for a couple days or over the weekend.”

“I’ll try my best, I promise.” She smiled, getting up and standing in front of me. “The ferry is here.” She held her hand out and I took it in mine.

We chose a seat next to a window and looked out at the dark water.

“So, Rachel and I got published.”

“What! Remy, no way! That’s amazing. I gotta read it!”

She passed me her phone with the article open. It was a beautiful piece about up and coming artists, and how every overnight success has 10 years of hard work behind it. She wrote about Finneas and I, and how much dedication has gone into our music over the years that she’s known us. Rachel wrote about her interviews with new independent artists and how they were discovered. The column was impressive from beginning to end. I couldn’t help but notice the way Remy spoke about me, and all her admiration warmed my heart.

“This is insane, Rem. Your words printed in Variety magazine… It’s unreal. I’m so proud of you. I mean that.” I handed her phone back.

“Thank you. We’re working on a new one, actually.” She began telling me about their new project, and to my surprise, they seemed to be getting along a lot better now.

As the ferry sailed past Statue of Liberty, we walked outside to get some fresh air. We leaned on the railing, standing close together on the deck.

Even with the cold wind and mist blowing in my face, my hands began to sweat, and I felt a flash of heat down my back. Remy shivered, her cheeks and nose bright red. As we stared into the darkness, I felt my heart race and my feet get restless. Maybe I should come clean. Maybe if I tell her the truth…

“Billie?”

“Yeah?” I snapped out of it.

“Are you okay?” She asked, fixing my beanie and tucking a strand of hair under it, then zipping my puffer jacket up all the way.

“Yeah, yeah…” I nodded, dissimulating the crisis in my head.

There’s no way I could tell her anything. I don’t want to distract her from what she has going on, and I don’t want to add another factor to stress about. She clearly doesn’t feel the same way. Why mess things up.

“You sure? You seem out of it.” She read my eyes so I avoided eye contact.

“Just thinking about how long I have before tour is over.” I lied.

“It’ll be over before you know it so enjoy every moment while you can.”

I nodded, smiling away my frustration. There was a slight pocket of silence for a while, until I realized this wasn’t us. We were never quiet. Not usually. We were always laughing or joking, or talking about anything and everything.

“Why did you come, Rem?” I asked, genuinely curious.

“I missed you. It didn’t feel right, not talking to you.”

“So you hopped on a five hour flight?” I looked at her, catching a glimpse of those long eyelashes as she looked at the water.

“I’ve been watching the videos of you on stage, seeing how crazy your show has been… Reading all the comments… I just wanted to see you in person. Everything I did the past month… I wanted to share it with you. You have no idea how many times I went to text you and just remembered we don’t talk anymore.”

As she went on, all I wanted to do was grab her face in my cold hands and bring her lips to mine. Every word she said, I wanted to perceive it so differently than she meant it.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t text or call. I wanted to, I really wanted to. I was just so hurt, and I knew you were mad… Leaving for tour without saying goodbye to you was so hard on me.” My voice betrayed me, cracking a bit. I swallowed hard, trying to maintain my composure.

“That’s exactly why I came to see you. None of that was worth not being able to experience any of this without my best friend.” She spoke, her voice melting me into a puddle on the deck.

******

Sadly, all good things come to an end. We dropped Remy off at the airport, saying goodbye the way we should’ve the first time.

“I’ll come see you for Halloween. We have to talk about our costumes this year.” I hugged her in the car, knowing I couldn’t go out into the airport. I wanted to walk her through check in, and wave at her until she goes through security like all the other people, but that wasn’t my reality.

“I’ll ask for a few days off as soon as I get the chance at work, and I’ll let you know, okay?” She squeezed me, swaying side to side.

“You better! Call me when your plane is about to take off. And when you land!” I pouted on the other end of our hug.

“I’m sorry that I can’t be here to see you be great. I wish I could.” Remy said, her voice muffled into our embrace.

I wish she could travel the world with me. I wish I could be there to support her too, though.

“I’m gonna do my best to come see you whenever I can, I promise.” She said, pulling away from me. I looked in her eyes, taking a mental picture to last me through the month.

We said our final goodbyes, and she was on her way. I rolled down my window yelling, “I love youuu!”

“I love you too! See you soon!” She waved back, entering the airport and leaving me in the backseat by myself.

“Ready?” Finneas started the engine.

“Yeah.” I buckled my seatbelt and slumped back in my seat.

******

“We haven’t done this song in years!” I say into the microphone, adjusting myself on the stool. The crowd goes insane as soon as they hear the chords for I Love You.

It only felt appropriate to do this song today. The flashlights waving side to side in the arena filled my heart with joy. My excitement dwindled as the lyrics sunk in. The emotion in my voice carried throughout the room, causing teary eyed fans to sing along with their whole chest.

Finneas and I exchanged looks, as he noticed me getting way into the song. He nodded, giving me a warm smile as I let the feelings flow through my veins.

I wished so badly that these feelings would go away. I just wanted to be able to hang out with her without my heart exploding out of my chest. Without over analyzing every one of her words. Without waiting anxiously for a text or response. It shouldn’t be this intense, especially since we’ve known each other for so long. I just wanted it to stop. If it didn’t, our friendship would have to.

[cupcakeslushie]

I am really enjoying your Empyrean Weeping AU and am looking forward to the Donnie Arc (the brothers need to save the feral child immediately).

I have a question for you: When it comes to making au how do you know if your going “too far” with an au (if there’s even such a thing) as in that your drifting too far from the canon world, characters and story? Maybe even to the point where you can’t really even say that the au is an au of a preexisting world and not just its own separate thing. How many changes, additions or flat-out rewrites are too many?

I ask this because I’m making my own au for a franchise I really adore but I’m kinda worried about going a little too crazy with my ideas. I know that because it’s an au it doesn’t have to adhere to canon, that’s why it’s called an “alternate universe” in the first place but still.

Like- Your EW characters (and overall world) are pretty different from their canon Rise counterparts and the AU is great! Feeling like it could stand on its own as a completely separate TMNT iteration.

I just don’t know if I’m going about this right with the plans for my au. So I’m looking for a bit of advice I suppose.

Whoa. Sorry that this got so long and ramble-y.

I think….hm. This is a good question. Part of it is, there really is no limit. If you’re fine with going crazy with it…but you do still want some aspects of the characters to shine through, I’ll tell you what I do.

I tend to be really interested in the whole concept of nature vs nurture. So I look at each character individually and pick out which traits I believe are ingrained, which are learned, which grew out of necessity—like coping mechanisms…and I see what new lenses I can show them through.

Like for example, Donnie’s desperate desire to be useful. We saw how panicked he became in Witch Town, when he thought there was a possibility he’d be replaced by mystic powers…if we take that fear—put it through the angle of him being raised Draxum, and being constantly treated as though he was useless…I imagined that would make him even worse at being impulsive and causing chaos in any attempt to prove himself.

Mikey is super competitive, so I figured he would shine if thrown into the battle nexus, and be an adorable little shit about it! He’d take a lot of pride in his wins—at first, but he’s also very empathetic, and those two traits would start to clash.

What if Leo’s coping skill of making everything a joke is totally stripped from him via his strict upbringing with the Foot Clan?

Raph is the one always taking care of his brothers, what would it be like if he got more attention as an only child?

These are really basic questions I started with, and I love sneaking in little ways my boys are similar and ways they’re different to canon (like Leo hating magic instead of loving it, because of what Kitsune did to him)

If you want to keep closer to the source material, but still make it your own, figure out what circumstances call for which changes, and which aspects you think would stay in tact, no matter what they go through.

I hope this made sense!

[ddesertmoon]

Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne Fic Recs

My FAVORITE dynamic in the ever. These aren’t all complete fics… sorry lol!

-

3:16 by partingxshot

“The knife pushes thin along Dick’s carotid artery, cupping the indent between neck and jawline—forcing him to angle his chin. The metal is warm, pulled with execution speed from under Damian’s pillow.

‘Okay,’ Dick says quietly, tracking the intricacies of his own heartbeat—counting the space between breaths. ‘Guess I did need a shave.’

(With faltering steps, Dick and Damian become Batman and Robin.)”

This is my personal favorite Dick&Damian fic. I think it perfectly captures their journey from strangers to the amazing father/son/brother thing they have going on. All of their interactions are amazing!

Chapters: 45/?

-

Accismus by honeycombclaire

“/ækˈsizməs/

noun

1. when one feigns disinterest or indifference for something they desire

2. a form of irony

Example: Dick buys two birthday cards for Damian. One starts with “For my son,” and the other says “To a cool guy.” Dick gives Damian the latter, and keeps the former locked away. He doesn’t need to make this into something it’s not.

Or, Dick is tasked with raising Damian in the wake of Bruce’s death. This is the fallout of their separation upon Bruce’s sudden and unexpected return.”

This fic was SO good. Damian is Dick’s son… that’s his little baby. And then Bruce comes back, and Dick has no idea where he fits into Damian’s life. Perfect!!!!

You need an Ao3 account to read this fic. But it’s totally worth it!!!

-

Redemption Lies Plainly in Truth by SilverSkiesAtMidnight

“Damian tries to pull his wrist out of his grasp.

Any other time, Dick would let him go without hesitation, always careful to make sure his personal space is respected.

This time, he catches his other wrist as well, gentle but firm as he crouches down to make eye contact. ‘Hey,’ he says, smiling gently. ‘Do you trust me?’

Damian tilts his head, his forehead creased. ‘I do not understand why you are asking me this,’ he says. He doesn’t pull his hands away, and that’s answer enough.”

Dick and Damian being kidnapped and sacrificing themselves for each other… what more could I ask for?

-

Throughout Infinity by flumen

“Damian Wayne did not anticipate going into the mission that he'd find himself in an alternate universe where his father is still Batman and there's an eerily similar (but thirteen year old) version of his partner/mentor/guardian/brother? who has somehow managed to find himself another pack of incompetent superhero associates just as intensely irritating as the ones Damian's familiar with and borderline suspects him of being an illegal Cadmus clone but...

...well...

...sometimes life just plays out like that. And he'll be damned if he doesn't find a way home to his actual partner before he manages to impale himself on his own cowl or something equally ridiculous. Honestly.

A sort of Damian time travel fic except he finds himself in the universe just after season 1 of Young Justice. Misadventures ensue.”

Damian and little Dick save the world together and I love them!!! Featuring many important questions such as why is Dick Batman…. I love this one.

-

Mirage (What I See In You) by SilverSkiesAtMidnight

“Damian’s breath catches.

It is only now that the level of his failure tonight truly settles in.

Not only has he ruined tonight’s mission, allowed so many of the people they were pursuing to escape and regroup, but he’s gotten himself compromised in the process.

He hasn’t failed this badly since he became Robin. He has no idea what the punishment will be.

His hands are trembling.

Grayson’s gaze flicks upwards to meet his, and suddenly his expression softens.

He smiles.

‘It’s okay,’ he says, the movement of his lips clear even if his voice sounds like it’s coming through a broken radio.

Suddenly, he’s pressing a rebreather to Damian’s face.

His own rebreather, whole and unbroken.”

If only there was a trope that could put these characters into an extremely stressful and scary situation… oh hooray! Fear gas!

-

The Rule Stands Engineerd

“‘I know what you’re going to say, Batman,’ Damian said, shrugging the hand off his shoulder. ‘You’re going to tell me that Nightwing is dead, and that people don’t come back from the dead. Well, clearly you are wrong, seeing that you were dead and I was dead and Red Hood was dead and even Superman was once dead-’

‘My parents are dead,’ Father interrupted. ‘Nightwing’s parents are dead. There have been a few notable exceptions in extenuating circumstances, Robin, but the rule stands. Everyone can die.’

OR

Damian meets a 10-year-old Dick Grayson, and they become best friends.”

URGGGG THIS ONE IS SO GOOD. I love Damian getting to make a friend his own age… even if that friend is just his time traveling older brother.

-

like father, like son by call_me_steve

“Dick contemplates what Damian means to him, and what their relationship really is. He doesn't understand why Bruce is held to the regard he is in Damian's mind, and why it means so much to Dick that Damian's happy. Dick also thinks about Bruce, and how he fits into the puzzle that Dick calls their life.

Or, in other words: Five times that Damian called Dick his dad, and the one time that he did it on purpose.”

Every time Damian calls Dick his dad i magically become a little bit happier.

-

shine a light into the wreckage by call_me_steve

“It’s like this - a scream, sharp and wild, and the pull of a blade against skin. It’s like this - something choked out and an arm around the waist, yanking him back. It’s like this-

Damian goes out on patrol with Grayson. Damian gets caught in a cloud of fear gas. Damian runs.

Or, Damian's hit by fear gas. He hurts Steph in his panic.”

Technically, a lot of this was about Dick and Damian and Steph, but if you don’t want to read about Steph, what’s wrong with you?

-

constant by call_me_steve

“They're tied down to Una Nemo's drill death trap, three minutes away from having a hole torn into their foreheads, when Damian decides, If it means Grayson doesn’t die, so be it.

He pushes the chair forward, and pushes himself towards certain death.

(Dick doesn't approve of Damian and his attempted self-sacrifice.)”

They love each other so much… ugh they would both lay down their life for one another and they would both hate each other for doing so.

-

I’m Not Here by Sohotthateveryonedied

“Dick swallows. ‘Getting rid of me won’t make Damian come back to you.’

Talia’s thumbnail digs harder into the spot where a dimple would be if Dick were smiling. It’s become a rarer and rarer occurrence beneath the corrosive weight of the cowl. ‘No, it won’t,’ she concedes. ‘Your hooks are in him too deep.’ She lets go. ‘Fortunately for me, I have a friend who owed me a favor.’”

Dick gets mind controlled into becoming abusive Batman… and Damian thinks that it’s something going right instead of something going terribly wrong.

-

of fathers and fear gas by TheJediAreGay

“A run in with Scarecrow leaves Damian sick with a fever and Dick sick with guilt.”

Another quick fear gas fic… what can I say? They’re delicious.

-

On the Heels of Rosy Hues by CKBookish

“Damian rapped his knuckles hard on Grayson’s door again. At this rate he was likely to bruise his fingers from hitting the hard wood. ‘Grayson. Lets go.’

He waited, but no reply came from within the room. Damian squared his shoulders ready to break down the door, just as Alfred came around the corner.

‘Master Damian, is that you making this racket?’

Damian bristled indignantly. He was not making a racket, he was doing his job. Grayson was late. He would miss breakfast and be late to work if he didn’t get up. ‘Grayson’s—’

Alfred frowned and gently pulled Damian back from the door before pulling it open and slipping inside.”

This one is a bit more about Damian and Alfred bonding, but I thought it was very sweet.

-

as love carries its strength, but not its labels by AlterHarpia

“Bruce is on a trip beyond Earth’s Solar System for longer than he intended, making Dick and Damian fall into an old pattern.

‘I'm not Batman.’ A mere reminder, perhaps, but when said to Damian it always sounds like an apology.”

A lovely conversation between Dick and Damian about their changing relationship after Bruce comes back.

-

And that’s all I’ve got! I really love Dick and Damian’s relationship, so if anyone ever wants more fics than these, or if you want to recommend any to me, please feel free! I hope you enjoy these!

[resident-idiot-simp]

What if MacTavish time traveled back after he died at the end of MW3

Ft: @azilver

(x)

Az:

mactavish fades away with prices voice in his ear and thinks its about time only to come to at his desk with a concerned riley looming over him calling "captain? captain???"

mactavish rights himself and dismisses the lieutenant but its on auto, looking around at the office he hasn't seen in, what? a year? more? he vaguely recalls the paperwork about chemo requesting leave but .... pushing up from the desk he heads outside, stride purposeful even if he can't think of a destination. he remembers the pain, rubbing at where the wound had burst open as he landed, the dull throb of a phantom knife separating his flesh. familiar voices call out greeting and acknowledgements, he feels like choking seeing his men jog past. dead. they were all dead.

Me:

MacTavish just roams aimlessly. He remembers this is before everything went wrong before the start of the end.

Before Makarov started causing issues at least noticeably. World war 3 hadn't started yet and General Shepherd....General Shepherd.

Could he even stop it from starting? No, he couldn't he knows he can't. But he could stop the war sooner. He knows where Makarov will be knows what has to get done.

He's a step ahead but... Shepherd how the hell does he deal with Shepherd? He can't kill him not right now he become haunted immediately.

He would have to play along... maybe send out separate secret operations. Shit where was his journal. He patted himself down And grabbed the small book.

It was covered in blood....his blood...

Az:

alt

he doesn't believe in any supernatural shit, he can't, getting your hopes up in their line of work is never a good idea. but he can try.

he needs to find his place in time and so he heads for his room, digs until he finds his latest notebook and reads. he's back farther than he thought. price isn't back yet, that a month or 2 out still. sheppards still sniffing around, playing them like fiddles.

not for long. he has until the rescue mission to untangle this shit as much as he can. he can't think about price right now, not with the realisations he'd come to after the bastard had let sheppard take his boys from him. had ushered in the war they'd bled and sacrificed for so long to keep at bay.

he needs a fucking smoke.

heading outside he fishes in his pockets for his pack. oh, he's on his last cigar and ain't that a big pointed ironic finger from the universe?

"yeah, yeah, i get ye." he mutters and crushes it under foot.

"sir?" riley sidles up, a predators grace shifting in that odd edginess he always had when alone with mactavish outside of missions. well, he supposes it would be odd to se him talking to himself and destroying a good cigar.

"was damp." he spits, watching from the side as riley leans against the wall next to him. "spot me a fag, lieutenant."

he hears the smirk in the man's voice even as he passes him the cigarette, slipping out another for himself, "only if'n ye spot me a light, sir"

Me:

You KNOW his personality must take a 180. Like it's whole new person or alternatively just different enough to be off-putting.

He has changed a lot over the course of the war and all the losses seem to pile on.

He will stare at his team sometimes like his seeing ghosts. He will turn around and treat them tougher then every before so this time maybe, hopefully they won't be unprepared

You know it's like pulling teeth for MacTavish to go along with Shepherd. Everyone else is super confused because what the hell changed in such a short period of time

Az:

he takes to digging, burning the late night oil in a way that has even the likes of the worst insomniacs of base weary. he needs proof, something tangible to show his men. he knows they trust him, more than the past-future shows/ed they should and he can't just make them go on faith.

as a captain he can't ignore his duties, thankfully he has a damned good memory and what he forgot he has in his notebook. the few ops they're sent on go off without a hitch - if maybe the men start whispering about the captains near psychic ability to just know he ignores it. instead what little time he can spare is spent with his boys.

where before he would watch from the sidelines for the most part he now steps in. he spars and backchats and touches. its confusing and unnerving somehow ...but also appreciated. maybe it just bonding or just maybe how he'd pulled away in the last few years as sheppard wound his way closer into the 141.

soap was always one of them but along the way the captain had taken over more and more. and for all he's pushing them harder and harder they notice the captain is more prone to risks. they see him staring off too often to dismiss it. they know somethings changed and like good soldiers they read their captain and start preparing.

Me:

Riley gets particular snoopy one day and manages to snag the journal. MacTavish kept that thing safe like it was his own child so seeing it covered in blood was alarming.

He worried over what had happened. Opening it there wasn't anything note worthy but the more pages he flipped the weirder it got.

There were things that hadn't happened yet events, betrayals, death, The more Riley read the more he needed answers.

Then his and Roach's death...

He just stared uncomprehending way because what? Shepherd? Sure he'd never really trusted the man but...to kill them?

Then the hunt... Then the blood... Then The last edition that wasn't the neat and purposeful writing of MacTavish...

Az:

it makes sense for all that it doesn't.

out of them all riley was the one who always watched mactavish, was always looking at the man. so he'd seen those little moments, the quickly shuttered pained swallows watching his men, the pure hate that sliced through his eyes the moment sheppard turned around. the little things like stepping between roach and a fire, putting off a mission an hour just to get that much more gear stowed.

and the thing that pushed riley past the edge of his respect for the man, just enough that he allowed himself to snoop: mactavish flirted back.

Me:

He's not a man that would normally go into people's business that's not his own. But he was genuinely worried about Tav and the man was going along with the flirting and stuff. He knew they were close probably closer than anyone else on the team.

That was his job after all he was the Captain's right hand. But what if instead of snooping (this just hit me) he had seen the journal somewhere it shouldn't be and wanted to bring it back to him

Az:

riley's not stupid. he knew mactavish let them, let him, get away with much more than any other CO would. he'd never given a shit about who was fucking who, hell, worm had admitted to the captain walking in on he and meat and just told them to get their reports on his desk before lights out. the captain seemed to be of the opinion that nothing mattered except their abilities in the field, pushing himself same as them.

and riley had pushed back on occasion. being the man's 2nd gave him leeway sure but even then the first time he'd found a proposition slipping out in response to the man sighing in exhaustion he'd fully believed he was about to be murdered. what he hadn't expected was a snort and "fuck off, riley"

it had become a thing he did, so much so that the rest of the unit openly placed bets on if the cap would ever give the man what he wanted. and good god was mactavish what riley wanted. he'd fucked around enough to know who was game and how to get what he wanted. for a while he'd thought mactavish was ace except roach came in one morning and told them all how he'd seen the man take home some girl from the bar the night before. so straight, which sucked but didn't stop him pushing. then a few of them were at a bar a few miles from base and he'd gone for a leak only to see his captain walk out of a stall adjusting his belt, 3 seconds later followed a pretty boy wiping at his mouth.

Me:

Riley has been extatic to know he had a chance and if Tav really didn't want it. Well the man was more than capable of getting him to stop.

The fact MacTavish allowed it in of itself was damn near the equivalents of permission. He let them do as they pleased for the most part sure.

But he was not beyond jumping down someone's throat if they annoyed him too much. People just understood You could do what you wanted but If it was something you couldn't... Well you would find out.

The captain was brutal there was no denying that. He expected perfection and would settle for nothing less and it seemed if only gotten worse his standards raising in the past few weeks. This seems to be the answer for it but wtf did it mean.

It made sense and fit perfectly sure but It was bat shit insane. Riley prided himself in nothing was too far-fetched but this? This pushed the limit for him.

He didn't mention it as he handed the journal back. He didn't mention it to anyone else either. He just continued doing what he always did. Being a nuisance in flirting with the captain

Az:

"if you insist on using that mouth of yours for something other than shutting up, be at my bunk at lights out and i'll use it for you"

mactavish walks away and silence follows. not one of them can believe what they just heard. they all look at each other over lunch in shock. not once in the years the unit has existed has the captain ever responded to a come on and never to riley. everyone to a man knew the lieutenant was gagging for it, would have been the man's personal fluffer at the barest crook of a finger. and yet...

"ok, what the fuck was that riley?"

"what?" the manc is still reeling and under other circumstances maybe they'd let him get away with it.

peasant comes up and places a restraining hand on his shoulder, archer and worm not a step behind. the rest of the unit move the make sure they're alone, pushing out the few straggling outsiders. whatever the fuck is going on is for the 141's ears only.

"riley, cap's been acting different for the last few weeks, we all know it." toad stares him down as the rest nod in agreement. "feels like a storm's coming and no one but him sees it."

Me:

Riley is still shell shocked "What?" He repeated because SURELY that hadn't just happened.

"Something is up " Meat agreed and Riley wasn't having it. "No no no go back did he just....is he serious?" Riley sounded excited.

"Yes and that's half the issue. What the fuck has changed so much?" Chemo answered easily

Riley wasn't listening he had tuned them out. They were onto something sure and he definitely had a piece to that puzzle.

That however was a later issue, right now? Now he had been offered to fallow though on the flirting.

( az: riley, horny and about to combust: "let me go! i need to get to him!"

the rest of the unit, holding him down: "no, tell us what's going on!"

Me: Riley has answers but is overwhelmed with the horny

Az: the man who thought he'd been made immune to torture is about to learn

Me: The 141: What the fuck is going on?? Surely Riley knows I mean he's around the man more than the rest of us combined

*Cut to Riley who is throthing at the mouth*)

Me:

"RILEY!" Worm shouts at him and Riley turns to snarl at him. "You are around him all the time you're his right had you have to know something. Is it confidential just give us something to work with." Worm begged

Riley groaned in annoyance, "I don't know shit. He hasn't told me anything but...yeah it's not right I *know* that."

Riley wouldn't bring up the journal even though he's sure it is the key to all of this. He shouldn't have seen it in the first place, it wasn't his place to talk about it.

"You don't know anything?" Archer asked dubiously and we'll ge kind of did. He had looked into what McTavish was diving into.

It was files on Shepherd he was looking for dirt. He knew something was wrong there even if he couldn't have concrete proof, even if he didn't bring up the journal.

"I'm not sure what exactly but he's digging for something on Shepherd." Riley answered with a sigh.

"Shepherd? Why Shepherd?" Rook asked and Riley weighed his options.

"I'm not completely sure, but I think he's onto something. I don't talk about before..but Shepherd owns me. Sure I'm here but he could pull me away just as easy. He's always been off he'd use me to do a dirty jobs stuff we can't have on the books." A breath.

"He's not a good man and if MacTavish thinks something's off to the point where he needs to look into it. Well I'd say he's onto something." Riley finishes with a shrug

Az:

and it's not like he'd be sad to get out of sheppards leash. not even if it meant a new one in mactavish's hands.

the world tip and he finds himself on the floor before he knows it. a weight settles on his back even as he manages to flip onto his back. roach is sitting on him and signing rapidly. you should have told us before! we've been freaking out for weeks!

it's probably a sign of how they're all on edge that riley doesn't even try and dislodge the man, instead he tries to reassure him, them. "roach, man, you know how the cap is. he wouldn't want us getting involved especially with how dangerous sheppard is."

peasant squats down beside them and flicks riley's forhead. "oi! none of that, ya hear? we're all 141, that includes you and the cap."

meat picks roach up off of him and tosses him over his shoulder as peasant gives him a hand up, "now, this is what we're gonna do: tonight you give the captain what he deserves and we'll get into his shit. if you do your job well enough he'll be too relaxed to be pissed at us and maybe even enough to let us help"

Me:

Riley has never agreed to something faster in his life. Not like he needs insensitive to put in his best effort.

He ends up in the Captain's quarters and it's without a question the best sex of Riley's life. He's used like a toy and he couldn't be happier.

He knows when he wakes up he'll be useless for the day but it's a sacrifice that has to be made. Besides if The captain gets mad about it well it's his fault.

Riley didn't expect as much passion as he got he was blindsided by the desperation the man showed. It was so unlike him but fuck it was hot.

Sure enough he woke up and he was as sore as he had been after his first hell week. To his surprise Tav was still asleep curled around him.

Riley wouldn't complain and couldn't even if he wanted too. Luckily for him it didn't take long for the other man to wake up.

He stirred as be buried his face further into Riley's hair. "Good morning Johnny." Riley chirped and Tav slapped a hand on his mouth.

"Fuckin told ye no ta call me that." He slurred out voice deep and gravely accent thicker then Riley has ever heard it. It made him melt a little

Az:

he'd happily lie there for the rest of his life, feeling the hollow ache in his ass and light stinging heat from the bites and bruises littered across his skin, even the tacky feeling of drying cum can't ruin the afterglow. he feels ridiculous. he feels fucking giddy.

"missed you" he'd miss it if mactavish's mouth wasn't right by his ear and it's said so quietly, almost a mumble. it's ice water. he twists to look at him but the other man is still more asleep than awake.

I missed you

the caps notebook. it described all their deaths, riley and roach's in particular. that had been months of entries before the last one and next to it had been a short list of dates: one about the time mactavish had started acting off, the next coming up in the next week or so. 3 others following, the last a little after that last entry underlined in red.

Me:

Riley had no reason to believe what he saw in the notebook. Hell it could be delusions cased by the last of sleep the man had be getting.

But Tavs soft 'I missed you' is all it took to convince him it was all real. Was that pathetic and probably his own hopes speaking? Probably but this had become proof for him.

Maybe by the time the others had an idea what was going on it would be answered. At least he could hope because things weren't right.

By the time they both got showed (another round in there) and dressed the team was waiting for them.

In Roach's hand was the journal and Riley locked eyes with him. He saw the same apprehension and horror.

MacTavish just froze up before growling and ripping it out of his hand. Roach didn't even try to hold on to it.

"WHAT THE FACK IS THIS?!" Tav demanded and Riley realizes he may have possibly fucked up.

"You're not acting like yourself we got worried so we did some snooping." Chemo said easily and there was definitely a vain popping out of the Captain's neck.

"I can have you all fired for this!' MacTavish roars but not one of them believe he'll do that for a moment. "Sure but then how will you kill Shepherd and Makarov?" Archer asked.

MacTavish came up short. "What?" He asked confused.

"How will you stop WW3 Without us?" Archer asked smugly. MacTavish looks she'll shocked. Riley's missing something but it seems that they're getting somewhere.

"You believe everything you saw and read?" He asked and the others just nodded in agreement. It wouldn't be something MacTavish would lie about they all knew that.

Az:

"why?"

"Why what?" toad asks

"why do you belive any of that?" Mactavish spits, pointing at the book and it really shouldn;t surprise anyone he's defensive. if even half of what's in there is true then Johnny's been very alone for a long time.

"Sir," chemo starts but how do they explain it?

because we believe you roach says and yes it is that simple.

"it makes sense" meat adds

peasant shrugs, "we know you, sir, you don't do anything for no reason. a few weeks ago you started acting ...off. you're our captain. it was like you'd been turned up to 100!"

there are murmers from the men and comments about the little things but it comes down to the fact that the 141 operates on a very simple and very straightforward mentality: look to the captain

Me:

MacTavish thinks he might cry. He isn't sure how to deal with this overwhelming support. He was so used to being pushed aside and ignored and it hurt. He forgot that this team was based off of.

Trust.

He pulls them into a long abandoned confidence room that promised pricey and showed exactly what he had figured out so far.

The room looks like a mess stuff everywhere. There was paper tacked to walls scribbles on the table. It looked like What people imagined conspiracy theorists did in their free time.

He explained everything and what he had proof of and what he didn't. Strings of evidence and spots where he just couldn't find anything even though he knew how it happened.

It was a week later on the exact specified time when they recovered Price.

No one was sure how to proceed with this and MacTavish was in shambles.

"I should kill him." MacTavish had announced to them all later that night.

"If you do that how do you explain it the way?" Riley asked honestly keen on getting rid of the men but still he had to point out the obvious.

'Doctors already took a look at him It can't be passed off his injuries. If you killed him it would be an assassination someone on base would have had to do it. You can't hide that It would be investigated.' Roach pointed out.

"They have bigger fish to fry than whoever killed Price." MacTavish reasoned.

"Yeah because they wouldn't care about a man who was being held specifically by Makarov." Chemo daid sarcastically.

MacTavish groaned

Zombie hummed, "Let us handle it, sir, best if you aren't involved. From what you've said he'll try and dig in with you so you'd be one of the first questioned."

the men agree even if they don't like it. mactavish didn't hold back when he told them about price and how the man got into his head, pulled him along like a trained dog. and gods did riley not want the man near his captain.

he'd been the one to drag johnny to bed, make sure he ate, keep him on track now that the rest of the men were on board. and maybe there was a part of him that wanted as much of the man as he could have just in case....

the other's were supportive, of course, but they'd agreed to let him handle the more personal aspects to getting their captain through this hell. they helped manage the brass and the other soldiers, handed over their meals and wrote up paperwork that didn;t need more than the cap's signature. rook and zach, the most personable of them, made friends with some of sheppards men and kept a more trained eye on them. robot and red exercised their tech skill and bugged the system. everyone had their ears to the ground but they knew they were running out of time.

so it's no surprise when they're in the hidden office, trying to work out what the hell they can do when mactavish slips in and thunks down on a chair. he looks exhausted.

riley's up and fixing him a coffee without a thought, the others going quiet as the man leans back, eyes closed.

"sir?"

he sighs. "ah cannae do it. if price says another thin' aboot us ah'm gonnae shoot 'im."

it's not secret that soon as the man was let out of medical he'd been on mactavish like tik on a curdog. riley had been hard pressed not to punch the man when he'd given the lieutenant a nasty look seeing him lean in against his captain. "here, Tav"

"Thanks, Si" he groaned, taking a big swallow not caring at the heat. eventually he shrugs, "maybe ah could get price and sheppard to kill each other"

Me:

The room paused at that

The batshit idea was.... Well not as insane as it was intended to be

MacTavish looked up at the silence. "That's a good idea isn't it?" He asked the room at large.

Affirmatives rang around the room and he groaned. "Shit we've been trying to make this more complicated than it had to be haven't we?" He asked and another round of agreements sounded.

"How do we get this to happen? Have him overhear us? Act like it's a secret and drop hints? Leave my office door open with all the information layed out for him to find?" He asked the team.

"Why not all of it sir?" Riley asked his eyes crinkling as a smirk presumably crawled across his face.

They deemed it 'mouse trap' even though which was the mouse in this situation was unclear. They started small with cutting off conversations about it when Price appeared. Then to hiding files when he entered a room.

It progressed to vague explanations that made no sense and finally to the office door being left slightly open one night.

The next morning Price was gone

Az:

roach definately suggests just asking price to deliver something to sheppard just for it to go boom

Me:

They wait impatiently for the news to ring one way or the other. Either way it can't be a loss they know that for sure

Az:

the only reason they veto is because of collateral

the brass are in an uproar but since the 141 have no idea where he went there' not much they can do.

what they do know is where makarov will be in a few days time so they plan for him instead. sheppard need to be in washington that week so it's easy enough to fly under his radar. a little hacking here, some misplace paperwork there, and they're a week earlier than the bastards expect. it's too risky to have men on site when makarov gets there, instead mactavish has them place enough explosvies to level a small town and then they wait.

from a very distant vantage point they confirm makarov has exited his chopper and walked inside. they wait 5 minutes and then blow it sky high. nothing is left, from the parking area to the sewers, it's all slag and detritus.

Me:

The aftermath is mayhem But MacTavish refuses to let them leave until they can confirm he is in fact dead.

It doesn't take much convincing as they get out the dogs and have them search for anyone living as well as pulling out the other stops just in case.

Everything comes up negative. And they all sigh a breath of relief

[starry-bi-sky]

I'm slowly becoming obsessed with the childhood friends au and it's mostly bc of something you said in the tags of an ask lol. you mentioned that they weren't soulmates they were something better. that they were two balls of yarn they batted around until they were intertwined, that they chose and continue to choose to be as close as two souls can be.

it's so poetic, the idea that fate has nothing to do with it. they looked at each other and said this is it, that's the one. It makes me think of so many different quotes but here's just a few. Hozier "lay me gently in the cold dark earth, no grave can hold my body I'll crawl home to her (him)" or like patroclus saying that if Achilles were to die that "all things soft and beautiful would be buried with him" and poor Danny grieving so long and so hard because "what is grief if not love perserving?" when you're in love with someone, that person is the lighthouse of your universe and to lose them is to be thrown to a tempestuous sea.

and thinking of their reunion makes me feel a little crazy too cause I see what you've been plotting and it just makes me think of how their relationship is going to be at first. like here's a person that you love so deeply and it's been so long since you've seen them and you've both changed since. will they click back together seemingly effortlessly? attached at the hip for a bit because they're both/or one is scared of being separated again? or will there be some friction for a while while they try to realign their pieces to fit together, to figure out what's different and what's practically the same? "you are a language I am no longer fluent in but still remember how to read"

sorry for rambling, I love them your honor.

🫵 DONT YOU DARE APOLOGIZE FOR RAMBLING I LOVE GETTING RAMBLING ASKS. AND SAME.

There was this one sound on tiktok that I heard that reminded me of them, and I just went and found it, and it goes: "I would recognize you in another lifetime entirely in different bodies, different times, and i would love you in all of this. Until the very last star in the sky burnt out into oblivion." and the first time i heard it i literally thought "this is CFAU Danny and Jason"

AND YEAH THEY JUST. I love devoted characters, i love when characters are so deeply devoted and loyal to each other its like you can't imagine them being anywhere else but at each other's side. That wasn't wholly my intent when I first came up with CFAU last fall, but god I am not complaining about how it turned out. My favorite part of the chapter 1 rewrite is making sure Danny's devotion to Jason was reciprocal.

god those quotes. they're so accurate too. yeah. i thought about this au once in the context of a soulmate au, and just couldn't get behind it. It made their whole dynamic felt cheapened, like of course they're soulmates; it was destined. When no, it wasn't. They made it that way.

(If the two of them were somehow transported to a universe with soulmate marks, they would not have matching symbols. That's okay, Danny and Jason don't need them to be. They'd pick up a tattoo gun or a pen and make their own. They wouldn't call it a soulmate mark, just a them mark.)

("Why should I share my soul with some schmuck I don't know? I want to share my soul with you.")

yeah. their reunion is. ! about as exactly as intense as it needs to be :]. They've both changed so much, and they're both scared of being separated again. Jason purposely stayed away from Amity because he knew he couldn't keep away if he didn't. Being back together again is like having a piece of them returned.

SPEAKING OF QUOTES. Here's one:

I don't believe in the death that you're bringing The reason I'm living is you Wherever you go That's where I'll be Even if death tags along, I don't mind It's still you and me I'll never leave you alone

"Death's At My Door" - The Outsiders Musical

[inkwitchgames]

Are there any differences between vampire in this world from the vampire we usually know?

Well, there are a LOT of variations in the media so I can't say any of my ideas are unique, but there's some things that stand out in my mind:

Vampires are dead. Technically. But they still function like living human beings. They have to eat, sleep, drink, etc. If they don't, they'll lose weight, they'll become fatigued, they'll get dehydrated. The only difference is that at the point where a human would die, the vampire will not, as long as they have fresh blood in their system. They won't be having a fun time, though.

Blood is the battery of a vampire. They have to keep their bodies alive by stealing the lifeforce from others, since after their death they no longer have a lifeforce of their own. It takes daily blood to stay in good health.

Lifeforce is finite, though. That's why you need to keep drinking. If you stop, your body starts to shut down, bit by bit, returning to its natural state: death.

The tagline of this game is "They say every vampire has a choice when it's reborn. You did not." That choice? Whether to embrace death or a second chance at life.

MC isn't given the choice because they're forced to feed, and once a vampire feeds it becomes impossible not to keep feeding unless they're literally caged with no source of blood. The Blood Haze is FAR too strong; no one has been able to fight against it through sheer willpower alone.

On the topic of blood/lifeforce, it's what fuels all the vampire's 'superhuman' abilities. But vampires in this world are definitely not the overpowered types.

Super speed? Nope. They can run VERY fast, but not beyond what their body would be capable of with the adrenaline pumping, like if they were running for their life. The difference is, they have a lot of control over their body functions to the point where they can kickstart the adrenaline to make them run fast on command. The cost is a fraction of their lifeforce.

Super strength is the same. Those tiny women who pick up cars when their kids are trapped underneath? A vampire can use the blood in their system to trigger that level of strength on command (with practice).

Healing is a bit different. Because of the level of control a vampire has over its own body mixed with the supernatural elements, it goes much further than what a regular human is capable of. Vampires don't scar. They can regrow limbs and organs. They don't age. It requires focus to do it fast, and a whole lot of lifeforce. A vampire who regrows their arm or heals a bullet wound will need to drink blood ASAP afterwards!

To kill a vampire, the ultimate goal is to separate it from a source of lifeforce. The best and most efficient way is to use fire to burn it to ashes. Sunlight is a great alternative method for a slow, torturous death!

Another way is to lock it up and let it slowly return to death. (A lot of the 'old school' vampires preferred this method against their enemies, as a kind of dignified and natural end.) Chopping off its head might not work if there's enough lifeforce there to regrow its body, so it's quite an impractical solution. None of the religious stuff works against them, no stakes to the heart, garlic, running water, or silver bullets, etc.

I've been debating writing a hunter's manual as a side project tbh LOL. A fun way to write vampire lore from an in-universe perspective.